DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 


Gilbert  T.  Rowe  Collection 


MARCUS  AURELIUS' ANTONINUS 


THE  MEDITATIONS 


OF  THE 

EMPEROR  MARCUS  AURELIUS 
ANTONINUS. 


TRANSLATED  BY  GEORGE  LONG,  M.A. 


WITH  A BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  AND  A VIEW  OF  THE 
PHILOSOPHY  OF  ANTONINUS  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR. 


NEW  YORK; 

A.  L.  BUKT,  PUBLISHER. 


■? 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


\ 


?V\'.  •' 


https://archive.org/details/meditationsofemp01marc 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 1 

The  Philosophy  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 31 

Marcus  Aurelius,  from  “Seekers  After  God.” ...  7B 

The  Meditations  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 131 

Index 299 


I 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 

BY 


THE  TEANSLATOK. 


LIFE  OF 


Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 


Marcus  Antoninus  was  born  at  Eome  a.  d.  121,  on 
the  26th  of  April.  His  father,  Annins  Yerus,  died 
while  he  was  prsetor.  His  mother  was  Domitia  Cal- 
villa,  also  named  Liicilla.  The  Emperor  Titus  Antoninus 
Pius  married  Annia  Galeria  Faustina,  the  sister  of 
Annius  Yerus,  and  was  consequently  the  uncle  of  Marcus 
Antoninus.  When  Hadrian  adopted  Antoninus  Pius 
and  declared  him  his  successor  in  the  empire,  Antoninus 
Pius  adopted  both  Lucius  Ceionius  Commodus,  the  son 
of  Aelius  Cffisar,  and  Marcus  Antoninus,  whose  original 
name  was  Marcus  Annius  Yerus.  Antoninus  then  took 
the  name  of  Marcus  Aelius  Aurelias  Yerus,  to  which 
was  added  the  title  of  Caesar  in  a.  d.  139 ; the  name 
Aelius  belonged  to  Hadrian’s  family,  and  Aurelius 
was  the  name  of  Antoninus  Pius.  When  Marcus  An- 
toninus became  Augustus,  he  dropped  the  name  of 
Yerus  and  took  the  name  of  Antoninus.  Accordingly 
he  is  generally  named  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  or 
simply  Marcus  Antoninus. 

The  youth  was  most  carefully  brought  up.  He  thanks 
the  gods  (i.  17)  that  he  had  good  grandfathers,  good 
parents,  a good  sister,  good  teachers,  good  associates, 
good  kinsmen  and  friends,  nearly  everything  good. 


2 


BIOGRAPHICAL  8HETCH  OF 


He  had  the  happy  fortune  to  witness  the  example  of 
his  uncle  and  adoptive  father  Antoninus  Pius,  and  he 
has  recorded  in  his  work  (i.  16;  vi.  30)  the  virtues  of 
this  excellent  man  and  prudent  ruler.  Like  many 
young  Romans  he  tried  his  hand  at  poetry  and  studied 
rhetoric.  Ilerodes  Atticus  and  M.  Cornelius  Pronto 
were  his  teachers  in  eloquence.  There  are  extant  let- 
ters between  Pronto  and  Marcus,*  which  show  the 
great  affection  of  the  pupil  for  the  master,  and  the 
master’s  great  hopes  of  his  industrious  pupil.  Marcus 
Antoninus  mentions  Pronto  (i.  11)  among  those  to 
whom  he  was  indebted  for  his  education. 

When  he  was  eleven  years  old,  he  assumed  the  dress 
of  philosophers,  something  plain  and  coarse,  became  a 
hard  student,  and  lived  a most  laborious,  abstemious 
life,  even  so  far  as  to  injure  his  health.  Pinally  he 
abandoned  poetry  and  rhetoric  for  philosophy,  and  he 
attached  himself  to  the  sect  of  the  Stoics.  But  he  did 
not  neglect  the  study  of  law,  which  was  a useful  prep- 
aration for  the  high  place  which  he  was  designed  to 
fill.  His  teacher  was  L.  Volusianus  Mmcianus,  a dis- 
tinguished jurist.  We  must  suppose  that  he  learned 
the  Roman  discipline  of  arms,  which  was  a necessary 
part  of  the  education  of  a man  who  afterward  led  his 
troops  to  battle  against  a warlike  race. 

Antoninus  has  recorded  in  his  first  book  the  names 
of  his  teachers  and  the  obligations  which  he  owed  to 
each  of  them.  The  way  in  which  he  speaks  of  what 
he  learned  from  them  might  seem  to  savor  of  vanity 
or  self-praise,  if  we  look  carelessly  at  the  way  in  which 
he  has  expressed  himself;  but  if  anyone  draws  this 

* M.  Cornelii  Fronionis  Reliqiiise,  Berlin,  1816.  Tliere  are  a few 
letters  between  Fronto  and  Antoninus  Pius. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


3 


conclusion,  he  will  be  mistaken.  Antoninus  means  to 
commemorate  the  merits  of  his  several  teachers,  what 
they  taught  and  what  a pupil  might  learn  from  them. 
Besides,  this  book  like  the  eleven  other  books  was  for 
his  own  use,  and  if  we  may  trust  the  note  at  the  end 
of  the  first  book,  it  was  written  during  one  of  Marcus 
Antoninus’  campaigns  against  the  Quadi,  at  a time 
when  the  commemoration  of  the  virtues  of  his  illustri- 
ous teachers  might  remind  him  of  their  lessons  and  the 
practical  uses  which  he  might  derive  from  them. 

Among  his  teachers  of  philosophy  was  Sextus  of 
CliEeroneia,  a grandson  of  Plutarch.  "What  he  learned 
from  this  excellent  man  is  told  by  himself  (i.  9).  His 
favorite  teacher  was  Q.  Junius  Rusticus  (i.  7),  a philos- 
opher, and  also  a man  of  practical  good  sense  in  public 
affairs.  Rusticus  was  the  adviser  of  Antoninus  after 
he  became  emperor.  Young  men  who  are  destined 
for  high  places  are  not  often  fortunate  in  those  who 
are  about  them,  their  companions  and  teachers  ; and  I 
do  not  know  any  example  of  a young  prince  having 
had  an  education  which  can  be  compared  with  that  of 
Marcus  Antoninus.  Such  a body  of  teachers  distin- 
guished by  their  acquirements  and  their  character  will 
hardly  be  collected  again ; and  as  to  the  pupil,  we  have 
not  had  one  like  him  since. 

Hadrian  died  in  July  a.  d.  138,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Antoninus  Pius.  Marcus  Antoninus  married 
Faustina,  his  cousin,  the  daughter  of  Pius,  probably 
about  A.  D.  146,  for  he  had  a daughter  born  in  147. 
He  received  from  his  adoptive  father  the  title  of  Cmsar 
and  was  associated  with  him  in  the  administration  of 
the  state.  The  father  and  the  adopted  son  lived 
together  in  perfect  friendship  and  confidence.  Anto- 


i 


BIOGBAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


ninus  was  a dutiful  son,  and  the  emperor  Pius  loved 
and  esteemed  him, 

Antoninus  Pius  died  in  March  a.  d.  161.  The  Senate, 
it  is  said,  urged  Marcus  Antoninus  to  take  the  sole 
administration  of  the  empire,  but  he  associated  with 
himself  the  other  adopted  son  of  Pius,  L.  Ceionius 
Commodus,  who  is  generally  called  L.  Yerus.  Thus 
Pome  for  the  first  time  had  two  emperors.  Yerus  was 
an  indolent  man  of  pleasure  and  unworthy  of  his 
station.  Antoninus,  however,  bore  with  him,  and  it  is 
said  that  Yerus  had  sense  enough  to  pay  to  his  col- 
league the  respect  due  to  his  character.  A virtuous 
emperor  and  a loose  partner  lived  together  in  peace, 
and  their  alliance  was  strengthened  by  Antoninus 
giving  to  Yerus  for  wife  his  daughter  Lucilla. 

The  reign  of  Antoninus  was  first  troubled  by  a 
Parthian  war,  in  which  Yerus  was  sent  to  command, 
but  he  did  nothing,  and  the  success  that  was  obtained 
by  the  Romans  in  Armenia  and  on  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris  was  due  to  his  generals.  This  Parthian  war 
ended  in  a.  d.  165.  Aurelius  and  Yerus  had  a triumph 
(a.  d.  166)  for  the  victories  in  the  east.  A pestilence 
followed  which  carried  off  great  numbers  in  Rome  and 
Italy,  and  spread  to  the  west  of  Europe. 

The  north  of  Italy  was  also  threatened  by  the  rude 
people  beyond  the  Alps  from  the  borders  of  Gallia  to 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Hadriatic,  These  barbarians 
attempted  to  break  into  Italy,  as  the  Germanic  nations 
had  attempted  near  three  hundred  years  before ; and 
the  rest  of  the  life  of  Antoninus,  with  some  intervals, 
Avas  employed  in  driving  back  the  invaders.  In  169 
Yerus  suddenly  died,  and  Antoninus  administered  the 
state  alone, 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


5 


During  the  German  wars  Antoninus  resided  for  three 
years  on  the  Danube  at  Carnuntum.  The  Marcomanni 
were  driven  out  of  Pannonia  and  almost  destroyed  in 
their  retreat  across  the  Danube;  and  in  a.  d.  17d  the 
emperor  gained  a great  victory  over  the  Quadi. 

In  A.  D.  175  Avidius  Cassius,  a brave  and  skillful 
Eoman  commander  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  troops 
in  Asia,  revolted  and  declared  himself  Augustus.  But 
Cassius  was  assassinated  by  some  of  his  officers,  and  so 
the  rebellion  came  to  an  end.  Antoninus  showed  his 
humanity  by  his  treatment  of  the  family  and  the  par- 
tisans of  Cassius,  and  his  letter  to  the  Senate  in  which 
he  recommends  mercy  is  extant.  (Yulcatius,  Avidius 
Cassius,  c.  12.) 

Antoninus  set  out  for  the  east  on  hearing  of  Cassius’ 
revolt.  Though  he  appears  to  have  returned  to  Rome 
in  A.  D.  171,  he  went  back  to  prosecute  the  war  against 
the  Germans,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  marched 
direct  to  the  east  from  the  German  war.  His  wife 
Faustina,  who  accompanied  him  into  Asia,  died  sud- 
denly at  the  foot  of  the  Taurus,  to  the^ great  grief  of 
her  husband.  Capitolinus,  who  has  written  the  life  of 
Antoninus,  and  also  Dion  Cassius  accuse  the  empress 
of  scandalous  infidelity  to  her  husband  and  of  abom- 
inable lewdness.  But  Capitolinus  says  that  Antoninus 
either  knew  it  not  or  pretended  not  to  know  it.  Noth- 
ing is  so  common  as  such  malicious  reports  in  all  ages, 
and  the  history  of  imperial  Rome  is  full  of  them. 
Antoninus  loved  his  wife,  and  he  says  that  she  was 
“ obedient,  affectionate  and  simple.”  The  same  scan- 
dal had  been  spread  about  Faustina’s  mother,  the  wife 
of  Antoninus  Pius,  and  yet  he  too  was  perfectly  satis- 
fied with  his  wife.  Antoninus  Pius  says,  after  her 


c 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


death,  in  a letter  to  Fronto,  that  he  would  rather  have 
lived  in  exile  with  his  wife  than  in  his  palace  at  Rome 
Avithout  her.  There  are  not  many  men  who  would 
give  their  wives  a better  character  than  these  two 
emperors.  Capitolinus  wrote  in  the  time  of  Diocletian. 
He  may  have  intended  to  tell  the  truth,  but  he  is  a 
jioor,  feeble  biographer.  Don  Cassius,  the  most  malig- 
nant of  historians,  always  reports,  and  perhaps  he 
believed,  any  scandal  against  anybody. 

Antoninus  continued  his  journey  to  Syria  and  Egypt, 
and  on  his  return  to  Italy  through  Athens  he  Avas 
initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  It  was  the 
practice  of  the  emperor  to  conform  to  the  established 
rites  of  the  age  and  to  perform  religious  ceremonies 
AAdth  due  solemnity.  We  cannot  conclude  from  this 
that  he  Avas  a superstitious  man,  though  Ave  might  per- 
haps do  so,  if  his  book  did  not  shoAV  that  he  Avas  not. 
But  this  is  only  one  among  many  instances  that  a 
ruler’s  public  acts  do  not  always  prove  his  real 
opinions.  A prudent  governor  Avill  not  roughly  oppose 
even  the  superstitions  of  his  people,  and  though  he  may 
Avish  that  they  were  Aviser,  he  Avill  knoAV  that  he  can- 
not make  them  so  by  offending  their  prejudices. 

Antoninus  and  his  son  Commodus  entered  Rome  in 
triumph,  perhaps  for  some  German  victories,  on  the 
23d  of  December,  a.  d.  176.  In  the  folloAving  year 
Commodus  Avas  associated  Avith  his  father  in  the 
empire  and  took  the  name  of  Augustus.  This  year 
A.  D.  177  is  memorable  in  ecclesiastical  history.  Attains 
and  others  Avere  put  to  death  at  Lyon  for  their  adher- 
ence to  the  Christian  religion.  The  evidence  of  this 
persecution  is  a letter  preserved  by  Eusebius  (E.  H.  v.  1; 
printed  in  Routh’s  Rehquiae  Sacrse,  vol.  i.  Avith  notes.) 


MARCUS  A URBLIUS  ANTONINUS. 


1 


The  letter  is  from  the  Christians  of  Vienna  and 
Lugdunum  in  Gallia  (Vienne  and  Lyon)  to  their  Chris- 
tian brethren  in  Asia  and  Phrygia ; and  it  is  preserved 
perhaps  nearly  entire.  It  contains  a Very  particular 
description  of  the  tortures  inflicted  on  the  Christians 
in  Gallia,  and  it  states  that  while  the  persecution  was 
going  on,  Attains  a Christian  and  a Poinan  citizen 
was  loudly  demanded  by  the  populace  and  brought 
into  the  amjDhitheater,  but  the  governor  ordered  him 
to  be  reserved  with  the  rest  who  were  in  prison,  until 
he  had  received  instructions  from  the  emperor.  Many 
had  been  tortured  before  the  governor  thought  of 
applying  to  Antoninus.  The  imperial  rescript,  says 
the  letter,  was  that  the  Christians  should  be  punished, 
but  if  they  would  deny  their  faith,  they  must  be  re- 
leased. On  this  the  work  began  again.  The  Christians 
who  were  Roman  citizens  were  beheaded : the  rest 
were  exposed  to  the  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheater. 
Some  modern  writers  on  ecclesiastical  history,  when 
they  use  this  letter,  say  nothing  of  the  wonderful 
stories  of  the  martyrs’  sufferings.  Sanctus,  as  the 
letter  says,  was  burned  with  plates  of  hot  iron  till  his 
body  was  one  sore  and  had  lost  all  human  form,  but 
on  being  put  to  the  rack  he  recovered  his  former 
appearance  under  the  torture,  which  was  thus  a cure 
instead  of  a punishment.  He  'was  afterward  torn  by 
beasts,  and  placed  on  an  iron  chair  and  roasted.  He 
died  at  last. 

The  letter  is  one  piece  of  evidence.  The  writer,  who- 
ever he  was  that  wrote  in  the  name  of  the  Gallic 
Christians,  is  our  evidence  both  for  the  ordinary  and 
the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the  story,  and  we 
cannot  accept  his  evidence  for  one  part  and  reject  the 


8 


biographical  sketch  ok 


other.  We  often  receive  small  evidence  as  a proof  of 
a thing  which  we  believe  to  be  within  the  limits  of 
probability  or  possibility,  and  we  reject  exactly  the 
same  evidence,  when  the  thing  to  which  it  refers, 
appears  very  improbable  or  impossible.  But  this  is  a 
false  method  of  inquiry,  though  it  is  followed  by  some 
modern  writers,  who  select  what  they  like  from  a 
story  and  reject  the  rest  of  the  evidence ; or  if  they  do 
not  reject  it,  they  dishonestly  suppress  it.  A man  can 
only  act  consistently  by  accepting  all  this  letter  or  re- 
jecting it  all,  and  we  cannot  blame  him  for  either. 
But  he  who  rejects  it  may  still  admit  that  such  a letter 
may  be  founded  on  real  facts  ; and  he  would  make  this 
admission  as  the  most  probable  way  of  accounting  for 
the  existence  of  the  letter : but  if,  as  he  would  sup- 
pose, the  writer  has  stated  some  things  falsely,  he  can- 
not tell  what  part  of  his  story  is  worthy  of  credit. 

The  war  on  the  northern  frontier  appears  to  have 
been  uninterrupted  during  the  visit  of  Antoninus  to 
the  East,  and  on  his  return  the  emperor  again  left 
Rome  to  oppose  the  barbarians.  The  Germanic  people 
were  defeated  in  a great  battle  a.  d.  179.  During  this 
ca  mpaign  the  emperor  was  seized  with  some  contagious 
malady,  of  which  he  died  in  the  camp  at  Sirmium 
(Mitrovitz)  on  the  Save  in  Lower  Pannonia,  but  at 
Vindebona  (Vienna)  according  to  other  authorities,  on 
the  17th  of  March  a.  d.  180,  in  the  fifty -ninth  year  of 
his  age.  His  son  Commodus  was  with  him.  The  body 
or  the  ashes  probably  of  the  emperor  were  carried  to 
Rome,  and  'the  received  the  honor  of  deification. 
Those  who  c pld  afford  it  had  his  statue  or  bust,  and 
when  Capitc/inus  wrote,  many  people  still  had  statues 
of  Antoninus  among  the  Dei  Penates  or  household 


MARGTTS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


9 


deities.  He  was  in  a manner  made  a saint.  Com' 
modus  erected  to  the  memory  of  his  father  the  An- 
tonine  column  which  is  now  in  the  Piazza  Colonna  at 
Home.  The  bassi  rilievi  which  are  placed  in  a spiral 
line  round  the  shaft  commemorate  the  victories  of 
Antoninus  over  the  IVIarcomanni  and  the  Quadi,  and 
the  miraculous  shower  of  rain  which  refreshed  the 
Eoman  soldiers  and  discomfited  their  enemies.  The 
statue  of  Antoninus  was  placed  on  the  capital  of  the 
column,  but  it  was  removed  at  some  time  unknown, 
and  a bronze  statue  of  St.  Paul  was  put  in  the  place  by 
Pope  Sixtus  the  fifth. 

The  historical  evidence  for  the  times  of  Antoninus 
is  very  defective,  and  some  of  that  which  remains  is 
not  credible.  The  most  curious  is  the  story  about  the 
miracle  which  happened  in  a.  d.  174  during  the  war 
with  the  Quadi.  The  Roman  army  was  in  danger  of 
perishing  by  thirst,  but  a sudden  storm  drenched  them 
with  rain,  while  it  discharged  fire  and  hail  on  their 
enemies,  and  the  Romans  gained  a great  victory.  All 
the  authorities  which  speak  of  the  battle  speak  also  of 
the  miracle.  The  Gentile  writers  assign  it  to  their 
gods,  and  the  Christians  to  the  intercession  of  the 
Christian  legion  in  the  emperor’s  army.  To  confirm 
the  Christian  statement  it  is  added  that  the  emperor 
gave  the  title  of  Thundering  to  this  legion  ; but  Dacier 
and  others,  who  maintain  the  Christian  report  of  the 
miracle,  admit  that  this  title  of  Thundering  or  Light- 
ning was  not  given  to  this  legion  because  the  Quadi 
were  struck  with  lightning,  but  because  there  was  a 
figure  of  lightning  on  their  shields,  and  that  this  title  of 
the  legion  existed  in  the  time  of  Augustus. 

Scaliger  also  had  observed  that  the  legion  was  called 


10 


BIOORAPBIGAL  SKETCH  OP 


Thundering  before  the  reign  of  Antoninus.  We  learn 
this  from  Dion  Cassius  (Lib.  55,  c.  23,  and  the  note  of 
Reimarus)  who  enumerates  all  the  legions  of  Augustus’ 
time.  The  name  Thundering  or  Lightning  also  occurs 
on  an  inscription  of  the  reign  of  Trajan,  which  was 
found  at  Trieste.  Eusebius  (v.  5)  when  he  relates  the 
miracle,  quotes  Apolinarius,  bishop  of  ILierapolis,  as 
authority  for  this  name  being  given  to  the  legion  Meli- 
tene  by  the  emperor  in  consequence  of  the  success 
which  he  obtained  through  their  prayers ; from  which 
we  may  estimate  the  value  of  Apolinarius’  testimony. 
Eusebius  does  not  say  in  what  book  of  Apolinarius  the 
statement  occurs.  Dion  says  that  the  Thundeiing 
legion  was  stationed  in  Cappadocia  in  the  time  of 
Augustus.  Yalesius  also  observes  that  in  the  Notitia 
of  the  Imperium  Romanum  there  is  mentioned  under 
the  commander  of  Armenia  the  Praefectura  of  the 
twelfth  legion  named  “Thundering  Melitene;”  and  this 
position  in  Armenia  will  agree  with  what  Dion  says 
of  its  position  in  Cappadocia.  Accordingly  Yalesius 
concludes  that  Melitene  was  not  the  name  of  the  legion, 
but  of  the  town  in  which  it  was  stationed.  Melitene 
was  also  the  name  of  the  district  in  which  this  town  was 
situated.  The  legions  did  not,  he  says,  take  their  name 
from  tlie  place  where  they  were  on  duty,  but  from 
the  country  in  which  they  were  raised,  and  therefore, 
what  Eusebius  says  about  the  Melitene  does  not  seem 
probable  to  him.  Yet  Yalesius,  on  the  authority  of 
Apolinarius  and  Tertullian,  believed  that  the  miracle 
was  worked  through  the  prayers  of  the  Christian  sol- 
diers in  the  emperor’s  army.  Rufinus  does  not  give  the 
name  of  Melitene  to  this  legion,  says  Yalesius,  and 
probably  he  purposely  omitted  it,  because  he  knew 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


11 


that  Melitene  was  the  name  of  a town  in  Armenia 
Minor,  where  the  legion  was  stationed  in  his  time. 

The  emperor,  it  is  said,  made  a report  of  his  victory 
to  the  Senate,  which  we  may  believe,  for  such  was  the 
practice;  but  we  do  not  know  what  he  said  in  his 
letter,  for  it  is  not  extant.  Dacier  assumes  that  the 
emperor’s  letter  was  purposely  destroyed  by  the  Senate, 
or  the  enemies  of  Christianity,  that  so  honorable  a tes- 
timony to  the  Christians  and  their  religion  might  not 
be  perpetuated.  The  critic  has,  however,  not  seen 
that  he  contradicts  himself  when  he  tells  us  the 
purport  of  the  letter,  for  he  says  that  it  was 
destroyed,  and  even  Eusebius  could  not  find  it.  But 
there  does  exist  a letter  in  Greek  addressed  by 
Antoninus  to  the  Roman  people  and  the  sacred  Senate 
after  this  memorable  victory.  It  is  sometimes  printed 
after  Justin’s  first  Apology,  but  it  is  totally  unconnected 
with  the  apologies.  This  letter  is  one  of  the  most 
stupid  forgeries  of  the  many  which  exist,  and  it  can- 
not be  possibly  founded  even  on  the  genuine  report  of 
Antoninus  to  the  Senate.  If  it  were  genuine  it  would 
free  the  emperor  from  the  chai’ge  of  persecuting  men 
because  they  were  Christians,  tor  he  says  in  this  false 
letter  that  if  a man  accuse  another  only  of  being  a 
Christian  and  the  accused  confess  and  there  is  nothing 
else  against  him,  he  must  be  set  free ; with  this  mon- 
strous addition,  made  by  a man  inconceivably  igno- 
rant, that  the  informer  must  be  burned  alive.* 


* Eusebius  (v.  5)  quotes  Tertullian’s  Apology  to  tbe  Roman 
Senate  in  confirmation  of  the  story.  Tertuilian,  he  says,  writes  that 
letters  of  the  emperor  were  extant,  in  which  he  declares  that  his 
army  was  saved  by  the  prayers  of  the  Christians ; and  that  he 
“threatened  to  punish  with  death  those  who  ventured  to  accuse  us.” 


12 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


During  the  time  of  Antoninus  Pius  and  Marcus 
Antoninus  there  appeared  tlie  first  Apology  of  Jus- 
tinus,  and  under  Antoninus  the  Oration  of  Tatian 
against  the  Greeks,  which  was  a fierce  attack  on  the 
established  religions ; the  address  of  Athenagoras  to 
Marcus  Antoninus  on  behalf  of  the  Christians,  and  the 
Apology  of  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardes,  also  addressed  to 
the  enij^eror,  and  that  of  Apolinarius.  The  first 
Apology  of  Justinus  is  addressed  to  Titus  Antoninus 
Pius  and  his  two  adopted  sons  Marcus  Antoninus  and 
L.  Yerus;  but  we  do  not  know  whether  they  read  it.* * 
The  second  Apology  of  Justinus  is  entitled  “to  the 
Poman  Senate but  this  superscription  is  from  some 
cop3’ist.  In  the  first  chapter  Justinus  addresses  the 
Romans.  In  the  second  chapter  he  speaks  of  an  affair 
that  had  recently  happened  in  the  time  of  Marcus 
Antoninus  and  L.  Yerus,  as  it  seems;  and  he  also 
directl}''  addresses  the  emperor,  saying  of  a certain 
woman,  “ she  addressed  a petition  to  thee  the  emperor, 
and  thou  didst  grant  the  petitition.”  In  other  passages 
the  writer  addresses  the  two  emperors,  from  which  we 
must  conclude  that  the  Apology  was  directed  to  them. 
Eusebius  (E.  II.  iv.  18)  states  that  the  second  Apology 
was  addressed  to  the  successor  of  Antoninus  Pius,  and 
he  names  him  Antoninus  Yerus,  meaning  Marcus 
Antoninus.  In  one  passage  of  this  second  Apology 

It  is  possible  that  tbe  forged  letter  which  is  now  extant  may  he  one 
of  those  which  Tertullian  had  seen,  for  he  uses  the  plural  number 
“letters.”  A great  deal  has  been  written  about  this  miracle  of  the 
Thundering  Legion,  and  more  than  is  worth  reading.  There  is  a 
dissertation  on  this  supposed  miracle  in  Moyle’s  Works,  London,  1726. 

* Orosius  (vii.  14)  says  that  Justinus  the  philosopher  pre.sented 
to  Antoninus  Pius  his  work  in  defence  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
made  him  merciful  to  the  Christians. 


MARCUS  A UBELIUS  AMTOMINUS. 


13 


(c.  8),  Justinus,  or  the  writer,  whoever  he  may  be,  says 
that  even  men  who  followed  the  Stoic  doctrines,  when 
they  ordered  their  lives  according  to  ethical  reason, 
were  hated  and  murdered,  such  as  Heraclitus,  Muso- 
nius  in  his  own  times  and  others ; for  all  those  who  in 
any  way  labored  to  live  according  to  reason  and 
avoided  wickedness  were  always  hated ; and  this  was 
the  effect  of  the  work  of  demons. 

Justinus  himself  is  said  to  have  been  put  to  death  at 
Home,  because  he  refused  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  It 
cannot  have  been  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  as  one 
authority  states ; nor  in  the  time  of  Antoninus  Pius,  if 
the  second  Apology  was  written  in  the  time  of  Marcus 
Antoninus  ; and  there  is  evidence  that  this  event  took 
iJace  under  Marcus  Antoninus  and  L.  Yerus,  when 
Rusticus  was  prefect  of  the  city.* 

* See  the  Martyrium  Sanctorum  Justini,  etc.,  in  the  works  of 
Justinus,  ed.  Otto,  vol.  ii.  559.  “Junius  Rusticus  Prefectus  Urbi 
erat  sub  imperatoribus  M.  Aurelio  et  L.  Vero,  id  quod  liquet  ex 
Themistii  Orat.  xxxiv.  Dindorf.  p.  451,  et  ex  quodam  illorum  re- 
scripto.  Dig.  49.  1.  1,  § 2.”  (Otto.)  The  rescript  contains  the  words 
“Junium  Rusticum  amicum  nostrum  Prefectum  Urbi.”  The  Mar- 
tyrium  of  Justinus  and  others  is  written  in  Greek.  It  begins:  “In 
the  time  of  the  wicked  defenders  of  idolatry  impious  edicts  were  pub- 
lished against  the  pious  Christians,  both  in  cities  and  country  places, 
for  the  purpose  of  compelling  them  to  make  offerings  to  vain  idols. 
Accordingly  the  holy  men  (Justinus,  Chariton,  a woman  Charito, 
Paeon,  Liberianus  and  others)  were  brought  before  Rusticus,  the  pre- 
fect of  Rome.” 

The  Martyrium  gives  the  examination  of  the  accused  by  Rusticus. 
All  of  them  professed  to  be  Christians.  Justinus  was  asked  if  he  ex- 
pected to  ascend  into  heaven  and  to  receive  a reward  for  his  suffer- 
ings if  he  was  condemned  to  death.  He  answered  that  he  did  not 
expect:  he  was  certain  of  it.  Finally,  the  test  of  obedience  was  pro- 
posed to  the  prisoners:  they  were  required  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods. 
All  refused,  and  Rusticus  pronounced  the  sentence,  which  was  that 


14 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OK 


The  persecution  in  which  Polycarp  suffered  at 
Smyrna  belongs  to  the  time  of  Marcus  Antoninus. 
The  evidence  for  it  is  the  letter  of  the  church  of 
Smyrna  to  the  churches  of  Philomelium  and  the  other 
Christian  churches,  and  it  is  preserved  by  Eusebius  (E. 
II.  iv.  15).  But  the  critics  do  not  agree  about  the  time 
of  Polycarp’s  death,  differing  in  the  two  extremes  to 
the  amount  of  twelve  years.  The  circumstances  of 
Polycarp’s  martyrdom  were  accompanied  by  miracles, 
one  of  which  Eusebius  (iv.  15)  has  omitted,  but  it  ap- 
pears in  the  oldest  Latin  version  of  the  letter,  which 
Usher  published,  and  it  is  supposed  that  this  version 
was  made  not  long  after  the  time  of  Eusebius.  The 
notice  at  the  end  of  the  letter  states  that  it  was  tran- 
scribed by  Caius  from  the  copy  of  Ireneeus,  the  disciple 
of  Poly  carp,  then  transcribed  by  Socrates  at  Corinth ; 
“after  which  I Pionius  again  wrote  it  out  from  the 
copy  above  mentioned,  having  searched  it  out  by  the 
revelation  of  Polycarp,  Avho  directed  me  to  it,  etc.” 
The  story  of  Polycai'p’s  martyrdom  is  embellished 
with  miraculous  circumstances  which  some  modern 
Avriters  on  ecclesiastical  history  take  the  liberty  of 
omitting.* * 

those  who  refused  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods  and  obey  the  emperor’s 
order  should  be  whipped  and  beheaded  according  to  the  law.  The 
martyrs  were  then  led  to  the  usual  place  of  execution  and  beheaded. 
Some  of  the  faithful  secretly  carried  ofE  the  bodies  and  deposited 
them  in  a fit  place. 

* Conyers  Middleton,  An  Inquiry  into  the  Miraculous  Powers, 
etc.,  p.  126  Middleton  says  that  Eusebius  omitted  to  mention  the 
dove,  which  flew  out  of  Polycarp’s  body,  and  Dodwell  and  Archbishop 
Wake  have  done  the  same.  Wake  says,  “ I am  so  little  a friend  to 
such  miracles  that  I thought  it  better  with  Eusebius  to  omit  that  cir- 
cumstance than  to  mention  it  from  Bp.  Usher’s  Manuscript,”  which 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


15 


In  order  to  form  a proper  notion  of  the  condition  of 
the  Christians  under  Marcus  Antoninus  we  must  go 
back  to  Trajan’s  time.  When  the  younger  Pliny  was 
governor  of  Bithynia,  the  Christians  were  numerous  in 
those  parts,  and  the  worshipers  of  the  old  religion 
were  falling  off.  The  temples  were  deserted,  the  fes- 
tivals neglected,  and  there  were  no  purchasers  of  vic- 
tims for  sacrifice.  Those  who  were  interested  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  old  religion  thus  found  that  their 
profits  were  in  danger.  Christians  of  both  sexes  and 
of  all  ages  were  brought  before  the  governor,  who  did 
not  know  what  to  do  with  them.  He  could  come  to 
no  other  conclusion  than  this,  that  those  who  confessed 
to  be  Christians  and  persevered  in  their  religion  ought 
to  be  punished ; if  for  nothing  else,  for  their  invincible 
obstinac}'^.  He  found  no  crimes  proved  against  the 
Christians,  and  he  could  only  characterize  their  religion 
as  a depraved  and  extravagant  superstition,  which 
might  be  stopped,  if  the  people  were  allovred  the  op- 
portunity of  recanting.  Pliny  wrote  this  in  a letter  to 
Trajan  (Plinius,  Ep.  x.  97).  He  asked  for  the  emperor’s 
directions,  because  he  did  not  know  what  to  do:  He 

remarks  that  he  had  never  been  engaged  in  judicial 
inquiries  about  the  Christians,  and  that  accordingly  he 
did  not  know  what  to  inquire  about  or  how  far  to  in- 
quire and  punish.  This  proves  that  it  was  not  a new 
thing  to  examine  into  a man’s  profession  of  Christianity 
and  to  punish  him  for  it.* *  Trajan’s  Rescript  is  extant. 

manuscript,  however,  says  Middleton,  he  afterward  declares  to  be  so 
well  attested  that  we  need  not  any  further  assurance  of  the  truth 
of  it. 

*Orosius(vii.  12)  speaks  of  Trajan’s  persecution  of  the  Christians, 
and  of  Pliny’s  application  to  him  having  led  the  emperor  to  mitigate 


16 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


lie  approved  of  the  governor’s  judgment  in  the  mat- 
ter; hut  he  said  that  no  search  must  be  made  after  the 
Christians;  if  a man  was  charged  with  the  new  religion 
and  convicted,  he  must  not  he  punished  if  he  affirmed 
that  he  was  not  a Christian  and  confirmed  his  denial 
by  showing  his  reverence  to  the  heathen  gods.  He 
added  that  no  notice  must  be  taken  of  anonymous  in- 
formations, for  such  things  were  of  bad  example.  Tra- 
jan was  a mild  and  sensible  man,  and  both  motives  of 
mercy  and  policy  probably  also  induced  him  to  take  as 
little  notice  of  the  Christians  as  he  could  ; to  let  them 
live  in  quiet,  if  it  were  possible.  Trajan’s  Rescript  is 
the  first  legislative  act  of  the  head  of  the  Roman  state 
Avith  reference  to  Christianity  which  is  known  to  us. 
It  does  not  appear  that  the  Christians  were  further 
disturbed  under  his  reign.  The  martyrdom  of  Igna- 
tius by  the  order  of  Trajan  himself  is  not  universally 
admitted  to  be  an  historical  fact.* * 

In  the  time  of  Hadrian  it  was  no  longer  possible  for 
the  Roman  government  to  overlook  the  great  increase 
of  the  Christians  and  the  hostility  of  the  common  sort 
to  them.  If  the  governors  in  the  provinces  were  will- 
ing to  let  them  alone,  they  could  not  resist  the  fanati- 
cism of  the  heathen  communit}^  who  looked  on  the 
Christians  as  atheists.  The  Jews  too  who  were  settled 
all  over  the  Roman  Empire  were  as  hostile  to  the 

liis  severity.  The  punishment  by  the  Mosaic  law  for  those  who  at- 
tempted to  seduce  the  Jews  to  follow  new  gods  was  death.  If  a man 
was  secretly  enticed  to  such  new  worship  he  must  kill  the  seducer, 
even  if  the  seducer  were  brother,  son,  daughter,  wife  or  friend. 
(Deut.  xiii.) 

* The  Martyrium  Ignatii,  first  published  in  Latin  by  Archbishop 
Usher,  is  the  chief  evidence  for  the  circumstances  of  Ignatius’  death. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


17 


Christians  as  the  Gentiles  were.*  With  the  time  of 
Hadrian  begin  the  Christian  Apologies,  which  show 
plainly  what  the  popular  feeling  toward  the  Christians 
then  was.  A rescript  of  Hadrian  to  JVIinucius  Fundanus, 
the  Proconsul  of  Asia,  which  stands  at  the  end  of  Jus- 
tin’s first  Apology,:};  instructs  the  governor  that  inno- 
cent people  must  not  be  troubled  and  false  accusers  must 
not  be  allowed  to  extort  money  from  them ; the  charges 
against  the  Christians  must  be  made  in  due  form  and 
no  attention  must  be  paid  to  popular  clamors ; when 
Christians  were  regularly  prosecuted  and  convicted  of 
illegal  acts,  they  must  be  punished  according  to  their 
deserts;  and  false  accusers  also  must  be  punished. 
Antoninus  Pius  is  said  to  have  published  Eescripts  to 
the  same  effect.  The  terms  of  Hadrian’s  Rescript  seem 
very  favorable  to  the  Christians ; but  if  we  understand 
it  in  this  sense,  that  they  were  only  to  be  punished  like 
other  people  for  illegal  acts,  it  would  have  had  no 
meaning,  for  that  could  have  been  done  without  asking 
the  emperor’s  advice.  The  real  purpose  of  the  Rescript 
is  that  Christians  must  be  punished  if  they  persisted 
in  their  belief,  and  would  not  prove  their  renunciation 

*We  have  the  evidence  of  Jnstinus  (ad  Diognetum,  c.  5)  to  this 
effect:  “The  Christians  are  attacked  by  the  Jews  as  if  they  were 
men  of  a different  race  and  are  persecuted  by  the  Greeks;  and  those 
who  hate  them  cannot  give  the  reason  of  their  enmity.” 

t And  in  Eusebius,  E.  H.  iv.  8,  9.  Orosius  (vii.  13)  says  that 
Hadrian  sent  this  rescript  to  Minucius  Fundanus,  Proconsul  of  Asia, 
after  being  instructed  in  books  written  on  the  Christian  religion  by 
Quadratus,  a disciple  of  the  Apostles,  and  Aristides,  an  Athenian,  an 
honest  and  wise  man,  and  Serenus  Granins.  In  the  Greek  text  of 
Hadrian’s  rescript  there  is  mentioned  Serenius  Granianus,  the  pre- 
decessor of  Minucius  Fundanus  in  the  government  of  Asia.  This 
rescript  of  Hadrian  has  clearly  been  added  to  the  Apology  by  some 
editor. 


18 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


of  it  by  acknowledging  the  heathen  religion.  This 
was  Trajan’s  rule,  and  we  have  no  reason  for  suppos- 
ing that  Hadrian  granted  more  to  the  Christians  than 
Trajan  did.  There  is  also  printed  at  the  end  of 
Justin’s  first  Apology  a rescript  of  Antoninus  Pius  to 
the  commune  of  Asia,  and  it  is  also  in  Eusebius  (E.  H. 
iv.  13).  The  date  of  the  Pescript  is  the  third  consul- 
ship of  Antoninus  Pius.*  The  Eescript  declares  that 
the  Christians,  for  they  are  meant,  though  the  name 
Christians  does  not  occur  in  the  Rescript,  were  not  to 
be  disturbed,  uidess  they  were  attemj)ting  something 
against  the  Roman  rule,  and  no  man  was  to  be  pun- 
ished simply  for  being  a Christian.  But  this  Rescript 
is  spurious.  Any  man  moderately  acquainted  with 
Roman  history  will  see  by  the  style  and  tenor  that  it 
is  a clumsy  forgery. 

* Eusebius  (E.  H.  iv.  12)  after  giving  the  beginning  of  Justinus’ 
First  Apology,  which  contains  the  address  to  T.  Antoninus  and  his 
two  adopted  sons,  adds  ‘ ‘ the  same  emperor  being  addressed  by  other 
brethren  in  Asia  honored  the  Commune  of  Asia  with  the  following 
Rescript.”  This  Rescript,  which  is  in  the  next  chapter  of  Eusebius 
(E.  H.  iv.  13),  is  in  the  sole  name  of  Caesar  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 
Augustus  Armenius,  though  Eusebius  had  just  before  said  that  he 
was  going  to  give  us  a Rescript  of  Antoninus  Pius.  There  are  some 
material  variations  between  the  two  copies  of  the  Rescript  besides  the 
difference  in  the  title,  which  difference  makes  it  impossible  to  say 
whether  the  forger  intended  to  assign  this  Rescript  to  Pius  or  to 
Marcus  Antoninus. 

The  author  of  the  Alexandrine  Chronicum  says  that  Marcus 
being  moved  by  the  entreaties  of  'Melito  and  other  heads  of  the 
church  wrote  an  Epistle  to  the  Commune  of  Asia  in  which  he  forbade 
the  Christians  to  be  troubled  on  account  of  their  religion.  Valesius 
sup)poses  this  to  be  the  letter  or  Rescript  which  is  contained  in  Euse- 
bius (iv.  13),  and  to  be  the  answer  to  the  Apology  of  Melito,  of  which 
1 shall  soon  give  the  substance.  But  Marcus  certainly  did  not  write 
this  letter  which  is  in  Eusebius,  and  wo  know  not  what  answer  he 
made  to  Melito, 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


19 


In  the  time  of  Marcus  Antoninus  the  opposition  be- 
tween the  old  and  the  new  belief  was  still  stronger,  and 
the  adherents  of  the  heathen  religion  urged  those  in 
authority  to  a more  regular  resistance  to  the  invasion? 
of  the  Christian  faith.  Melito,  in  his  apology  to  Mar- 
cus Antoninus,  represents  the  Christians  of  Asia  as 
persecuted  under  new  imperial  orders.  Shameless 
informers,  he  says,  men  who  were  greedy  after  the 
property  of  others,  used  these  orders  as  a means  of 
robbing  those  who  were  doing  no  harm.  He  doubts  if 
a just  emperor  could  have  ordered  anything  so  unjust ; 
and  if  the  last  order  was  really  not  from  the  emperor, 
the  Christians  entreat  him  not  to  give  them  up  to  their 
enemies.*  We  conclude  from  this  that  there  were  at 


* Eusebius,  iv.  26  ; and  Routb’s  Reliquiae  Sacrae,  vol.  i.  and  the 
notes.  The  interpretation  of  this  fragment  is  not  easy.  Mosheim 
misunderstood  one  passage  so  far  as  to  affirm  that  Marcus  promised 
rewards  to  those  who  denounced  the  Christians  ; an  interpretation 
which  is  entirely  false.  Melito  calls  the  Christian  religion  “ our 
philosophy,”  which  began  among  barbarians  (the  Jews),  and  flour- 
ished among  the  Roman  subjects  in  t(ie  time  of  Augustus,  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  empire,  for  from  that  time  the  power  of  the 
Romans  grew  great  and  glorious.  He  says  that  the  emperor  has  and 
will  have  as  the  successor  to  Augustus’  power  the  good  wishes  of 
men,  if  he  will  protect  that  philosophy  which  grew  up  with  the 
empire  and  began  with  Augustus,  which  philosophy  the  predeces- 
sors of  Antoninus  honored  in  addition  to  the  other  religions.  He 
further  says  that  the  Christian  religion  had  suffered  no  harm  since 
the  time  of  Augustus,  but  on  the  contrary  had  enjoyed  all  honor  and 
respect  that  any  man  could  desire.  Nero  and  Domitian,  he  says, 
were  alone  persuaded  by  some  malicious  men  to  calumniate  the 
Christian  religion,  and  this  was  the  origin  of  the  false  charges 
against  the  Christians.  But  this  was  corrected  by  the  emperors  who 
immediately  preceded  Antoninus,  who  often  by  their  Rescripts 
reproved  those  w'ho  attempted  to  trouble  the  Christians.  Hadrian, 
Antoninus’  grandfather,  wrote  to  many,  and  among  them  to  Fun- 
danus,  the  governor  of  Asia.  Antoninus  Pius,  when  Marcus  was 


20 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


least  Imperial  Rescripts  or  Constitutions  of  Marcus 
Antoninus,  which  were  made  the  foundation  of  these 
persecutions.  The  fact  of  being  a Christian  was  now 
a crime  and  punished,  unless  the  accused  denied  their 
religion.  Then  come  the  persecutions  at  Smyrna,  which 
some  modern  critics  place  in  a.  d.  167,  ten  years  before 
the  persecution  of  Lyon.  The  governors  of  the  prov- 
inces under  Marcus  Antoninus  might  have  found 
enough  even  in  Trajan’s  Rescript  to  warrant  them  in 
punishing  Christians,  and  the  fanaticism  of  the  people 
would  drive  them  to  persecution,  even  if  they  were 
unwilling.  But  besides  the  fact  of  the  Christians 
rejecting  all  the  heathen  ceremonies,  we  must  not  for- 
get that  they  plainly  maintained  that  all  the  heathen 
religions  were  false.  The  Christians  thus  declared  war 
against  the  heathen  rites,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
observe  that  this  was  a declaration  of  hostility  against 
the  Roman  government,  which  tolerated  all  the  various 
forms  of  superstition  that  existed  in  the  empire,  and 
could  not  consistently  tolerate  another  religion,  which 

associated  with  him  in  the  empire,  wrote  to  the  cities,  that  they  must 
not  trouble  the  Christians  ; among  others  to  the  people  of  Larissa, 
Thessalonica,  the  Athenians  and  all  the  Greeks.  Melito  concluded 
thus:  We  are  persuaded  that  thou  who  hast  about  these  things  the 
same  mind  that  they  had,  nay,  rather  one  much  more  humane  and  phi- 
losophical, wilt  do  all  that  we  ask  thee.  This  apology  was  written 
after  A.  d.  169,  the  year  in  which  Verus  died,  for  it  .speaks  of  Marcus 
only  and  his  son  Commodus.  According  to  Melito’s  testimony, 
Christians  had  only  been  punished  for  their  religion  in  the  time  of 
Nero  and  Domitian,  and  the  persecutions  began  again  in  the  time  of 
Marcus  Antoninus,  and  were  founded  on  his  orders,  which  were 
abused,  as  he  seems  to  mean.  He  distinctly  affirms  “ that  the  race 
of  the  godly  is  now  persecuted  and  harassed  by  fresh  imperial  orders 
in  Asia,  a thing  which  had  never  happened  before.”  But  we  know 
that  all  this  is  not  true,  and  that  Christians  had  been  punished  in 
Trajan’s  time. 


MARCUS  A UBELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


21 


declared  that  all  the  rest  were  false,  and  all  the  splen- 
did ceremonies  of  the  empire  only  a worship  of  devils. 

If  we  had  a true  ecclesiastical  history,  we  should 
know  how  the  Roman  emperors  attempted  to  check 
the  new  religion,  how  they  enforced  their  principle  of 
finally  punishing  Christians,  simply  as  Christians, 
which  Justin  in  his  Apology  affirms  that  they  did,  and 
I have  no  doubt  that  he  tells  the  truth  ; how  far 
popular  clamor  and  riots  went  in  this  matter,  and  how 
far  many  fanatical  and  ignorant  Christians,  for  there 
were  many  such,  contributed  to  excite  the  fanaticism 
on  the  other  side,  and  to  embitter  the  quarrel  between 
the  Roman  government  and  the  new  religion.  Our 
extant  ecclesiastical  histories  are  manifestly  falsified, 
and  what  truth  they  contain  is  grossly  exaggerated ; 
but  the  fact  is  certain  that  in  the  time  of  Marcus 
Antoninus  the  heathen  populations  were  in  open 
hostility  to  the  Christians,  and  that  under  Antoninus’ 
rule  men  were  put  to  death  because  they  were 
Christians.  Eusebius,  in  the  preface  to  his  fifth  book, 
remarks  that  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  Antoninus’ 
reign,  in  some  parts  of  the  world  the  persecution  of 
the  Christians  became  more  violent,  and  that  it  pro- 
ceeded from  the  populace  in  the  cities ; and  he  adds  in 
his  usual  style  of  exaggeration,  that  we  may  infer 
from  what  took  place  in  a single  nation  that  myriads 
of  martjws  were  made  in  the  habitable  earth.  The 
nation  which  he  alludes  to  is  Gallia ; and  he  then  pro- 
ceeds to  give  the  letter  of  the  churches  of  Vienna  and 
Lugdunum.  It  is  probable  that  he  has  assigned  the 
true  cause  of  the  persecutions,  the  fanaticism  of  the 
populace,  and  that  both  governors  and  emperor  had  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  with  these  disturbances,  How 


22 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


far  Marcus  was  cognizant  of  these  cruel  proceedings 
we  tlo  not  know,  for  the  historical  records  of  his  reign 
are  very  defective.  He  did  not  make  the  rule  against 
the  Christians,  for  Trajan  did  that ; and  if  we  admit 
that  he  would  have  been  willing  to  let  the  Christians 
alone,  we  cannot  affirm  that  it  was  in  his  power,  for  it 
would  be  a great  mistake  to  suppose  that  Antoninus 
had  the  unlimited  authority,  which  some  modern 
sovereigns  have  had.  Ilis  power  was  limited  by  certain 
constitutional  forms,  by  the  Senate,  and  by  the  prece- 
dents of  his  predecessors.  We  cannot  admit  that  such 
a man  was  an  active  persecutor,  for  there  is  no  evidence 
that  he  was,*  though  it  is  certain  that  he  had  no  good 
opinion  of  the  Christians,  as  appears  from  his  own 
words. j;  But  he  knew  nothing  of  them  except  their 

* Except  tliat  of  Orosius  (vii.  15),  wLo  says  tLat  during  tlie 
PartLian  war  there  were  grievous  persecutions  of  the  Christians  in 
Asia  and  Gallia  under  the  orders  of  Marcus  (praecepto  ejus),  and 
“many  were  crowned  with  the  martyrdom  of  saints.” 

t See  xi.  3.  The  emperor  probably  speaks  of  such  fanatics  as 
Clemens  (quoted  by  Gataker  on  this  passage)  mentions.  The  rational 
Christians  admitted  no  fellowship  with  them.  “Some  of  these 
heretics,”  says  Clemens,  “ show  their  impiety  and  cowardice  by  loving 
their  lives,  saying  that  the  knowledge  of  the  really  existing  God  is  true 
testimony  (martyrdom),  but  that  a 7nan  is  a self-murderer  who  bears 
witness  by  his  death.  We  also  blame  those  who  rush  to  death,  for 
there  are  some,  not  of  us,  but  only  bearing  the  same  name,  who  give 
themselves  up.  We  say  of  them  that  they  die  without  being 
martyrs,  even  if  they  are  publicly  punished  ; and  they  give  them- 
selves up  to  a death  which  avails  nothing,  as  the  Indian  Gymnoso- 
phists  give  themselves  up  foolishly  to  fire.”  Cave,  in  his  Primitive 
Christianity  (ii.  c.  7),  says  of  the  Christians  : “ They  did  flock  to  the 

place  of  torment  faster  than  droves  of  beasts  that  are  driven  to  the 
shambles.  They  even  longed  to  be  in  the  arms  of  suffering. 
Ignatius,  though  then  in  his  journey  to  Rome  in  order  to  his  execu- 
tion, yet  by  the  way  as  he  went  could  not  but  vent  his  passionate 


maugus  aurelws  ANTomims. 


S3 

hostility  to  the  Eoman  religion,  and  he  probably 
thought  that  they  were  dangerous  to  the  state,  not- 
withstanding the  professions  false  or  true  of  some  of 
the  Apologists.  So  much  I have  said,  because  it  would 
be  unfair  not  to  state  all  that  can  be  urged  against  a 
man  whom  his  contemporaries  and  subsequent  ages 
venerated  as  a model  of  virtue  and  benevolence.  If  I 
admitted  the  genuineness  of  some  documents,  he  would 
be  altogether  clear  from  the  charge  of  even  allowing 
any  persecutions ; but  as  I seek  the  truth  and  am  sure 
that  they  are  false,  I leave  him  to  bear  whatever  blame 
is  his  due.* *  I add  that  it  is  quite  certain  that  Anto- 
ninus did  not  derivm  any  of  his  Ethical  principles  fi’om 
a religion  of  which  he  knew  nothing.;}; 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Emperor’s  Eeflections,  or 
his  Meditations,  as  they  are  generally  named,  is  a 
genuine  work.  In  the  first  book  he  speaks  of  himself, 

desire  of  it : “0  that  I might  come  to  those  wild  beasts,  that  are  pre- 
pared for  me  ; I heartily  wish  that  I may  presently  meet  with  them  ; 
I would  invite  and  encourage  them  speedily  to  devour  me,  and  not  be 
afraid  to  set  upon  me  as  they  have  been  to  others ; nay,  should  they 
refuse  it,  I would  even  force  them  to  it and  more  to  the  same  pur- 
pose from  Eusebius.  Cave,  an  honest  and  good  man,  says  all  this  in 
praise  of  the  Christians ; but  I think  that  he  mistook  the  matter. 
We  admire  a man  who  holds  to  his  principles  even  to  death ; but 
these  fanatical  Christians  are  the  Gymnosophists  whom  Clemens 
treats  with  disdain. 

* Dr.  F.  C.  Baur  in  his  work  entitled  Das  Christenthum  und  die 
Christliche  Kirche  der  drei  ersten  Jahrhunderte,  etc.,  has  examined 
this  question  with  great  good  sense  and  fairness,  and  I believe  he  has 
stated  the  truth  as  near  as  our  authorities  enable  us  to  reach  it. 

I In  the  Digest,  48,  19,  30,  there  is  the  following  excerpt  from 
Modestinus  : “Si  quis  aliquid  fecerit,  quo  leves  hominum  animi 
superstitione  numinis  terrerentur,  divus  Marcus  hujusmodi  homines 
in  insulam  relegari  rescripsit.” 


24 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 


his  family,  and  his  teachers ; and  in  other  books  he 
mentions  himself.  Suidas  notices  a work  of  Antoninus 
in  twelve  books,  which  he  names  the  “conduct  of  his 
own  life;”  and  he  cites  the  book  under  several  words 
in  his  Dictionary,  giving  the  emperor’s  name,  but  not 
tlie  title  of  the  work.  There  are  also  passages  cited  by 
Suidas  from  Antoninus  without  mention  of  the 
emperor’s  name.  The  true  title  of  the  work  is  un- 
known. Xylander,  who  published  the  first  edition  of 
this  book  (Zurich,  1558,  8vo.,  with  a Latin  version), 
used  a manuscrijit,  which  contained  the  twelve  books, 
but  it  is  not  known  where  the  manuscript  is  now. 
The  only  other  complete  manuscrijA  which  is  known 
to  exist  is  in  the  Vatican  library,  but  it  has  no  title 
and  no  inscriptions  of  the  several  books : the  eleventh 
only  has  the  inscription  MdpKoiavToxpdropo';  marked  with 
an  asterisk.  The  other  Vatican  manuscripts  and  the 
three  Florentine  contain  only  excerpts  from  the  em- 
peror’s book.  All  the  titles  of  the  excerpts  nearly 
agree  with  that  which  Xylander  prefixed  to  his  edition, 

Mdpxov  ’Ayroovi'vov  Auroxpdropo?  tc3v  eii  kavrov  ftiftXia  ifi. 

This  title  has  been  used  by  all  subsequent  editors.  We 
cannot  tell  whether  Antoninus  divided  his  work  into 
books  or  somebody  else  did  it.  If  the  inscriptions  at 
the  end  of  the  first  and  second  books  are  genuine,  he 
may  have  made  the  division  himself. 

It  is  plain  that  the  emperor  wrote  down  his  thoughts 
or  reflections  as  the  occasions  arose ; and  since  they 
were  intended  for  his  own  use,  it  is  no  improbable  con- 
jecture that  he  left  a complete  copy  behind  him  writ- 
ten with  his  own  hand ; for  it  is  not  likel^'^  that  so 
diligent  a man  would  use  the  labor  of  a transcriber  for 
such  a purpose,  and  expose  his  most  secret  thoughts  to 


MARGTT8  A TTRELITTS  ANTONINUS. 


25 


any  other  eye.  He  may  have  also  intended  the  book 
for  his  son  Conimodus,  who,  however,  had  no  taste  for 
his  father’s  philosophy.  Some  careful  hand  preserved 
the  precious  volume ; and  a work  by  Antoninus  is 
mentioned  by  other  late  writers  besides  Suidas. 

Many  critics  have  labored  on  the  text  of  Antoninus. 
The  most  complete  edition  is  that  by  Thomas  Gataker, 
1652, 4to.  The  second  edition  of  Gataker  was  superin- 
tended by  George  Stanhope,  1697,  dto.  There  is  also 
an  edition  of  1704.  Gataker  made  and  suggested  many 
good  corrections,  and  he  also  made  a new  Latin  version, 
which  is  not  a very  good  specimen  of  Latin,  but  it 
generally  expresses  the  sense  of  the  original  and  often 
better  than  some  of  the  more  recent  translations.  He 
added,  in  the  margin  opposite  to  each  paragraph,  refer- 
ences to  the  other  parallel  passages ; and  he  wrote  a 
commentary,  one  of  the  most  complete  that  has  been 
written  on  any  ancient  author.  This  commentary  con- 
tains the  editor’s  exposition  of  the  more  difficult  pas- 
sages, and  quotations  from  all  the  Greek  and  Roman 
writers  for  the  illustration  of  the  text.  It  is  a won- 
derful monument  of  learning  and  labor,  and  certainly 
no  Englishman  has  yet  done  an3dhing  like  it.  At  the 
end  of  his  preface  the  editor  says  that  he  wrote  it  at 
Rotherhithe,  near  London,  in  a severe  winter,  when  he 
was  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age,  1651,  a time 
when  Milton,  Selden  and  other  great  men  of  the  Com- 
monwealth time  were  living;  and  the  great  French 
scholar  Saumaise  (Salmasius),  with  whom  Gataker  cor- 
responded and  received  help  from  him  for  his  edition 
of  Antoninus.  The  Greek  text  has  also  been  edited  by 
J.  M.  Schultz,  Leipzig,  1802,  8vo.;  and  by  the  learned 
Greek  Adamantinus  Corais,  Paris,  1816,  8vo.  The  text 
of  Schultz  was  republished  by  Tauchnitz,  1821, 


20 


MOOnAPmCAL  SKETCH  OE 


There  are  Englisli,  German;  French,  Italian  and 
Spanish  translations  of  Marcus  Antoninus,  and  there 
may  be  others.  I have  not  seen  all  the  English  trans- 
lations. There  is  one  by  Jeremy  Collier,  1702,  8vo.,  a 
most  coarse  and  vulgar  copy  of  the  original.  The 
latest  French  translation  by  Alexis  Pierron  in  the  col- 
lection of  Charpentier  is  better  than  Dacier’s,  which 
has  been  honored  with  an  Italian  version  (Udine,  1772). 
There  is  an  Italian  version  (1675)  which  I have  not 
seen.  It  is  by  a cardinal.  “ A man  illustrious  in  the 
church,  the  Cardinal  Francis  Barberini  the  elder, 
nephew  of  Pope  Urban  VIII,  occupied  the  last  years 
of  his  life  in  translating  into  his  native  language  the 
thoughts  of  the  Roman  emperor,  in  order  to  diffuse 
among  the  faithful  the  fertilizing  and  vivifying  seeds. 
Tie  dedicated  this  translation  to  his  soul,  to  make  it,  as 
he  says  in  his  energetic  style,  redder  than  his  purple  at 
the  sight  of  the  virtues  of  this  Gentile  ” (Pierron,  Pre- 
face). 

I have  made  this  translation  at  intervals  after  having 
used  the  book  for  many  years.  Is  is  made  from  the 
Greek,  but  I have  not  always  followed  one  text ; and 
I have  occasionally  compared  other  versions  with  my 
own.  I made  this  translation  for  my  own  use,  because 
I found  that  it  was  worth  the  labor ; but  it  may  be 
useful  to  others  also,  and  therefore  I determined  to 
print  it.  As  the  original  is  sometimes  very  difficult  to 
understand  and  still  more  difficult  to  translate,  it  is  not 
possible  that  I have  always  avoided  error.  But  I 
believe  that  I have  not  often  missed  the  meaning,  and 
those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  compare  the  trans- 
lation with  the  original  should  not  hastily  conclude 
that  I am  wrong,  if  they  do  not  agree  with  me.  Some 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS.  27 

passages  do  give  the  meaning,  though  at  first  sight 
they  may  not  appear  to  do  so ; and  when  I differ  from 
the  translators,  I think  that  in  some  places  they  are 
wrong,  and  in  other  places  I am  sure  that  they  are.  I 
have  placed  in  some  passages  a f,  which  indicates 
corruption  in  the  text  or  great  uncertainty  in  the 
meaning.  I could  have  made  the  language  more  easy 
and  flowing,  but  I have  preferred  a ruder  style  as 
being  better  suited  to  express  the  character  of  the 
original ; and  sometimes  the  obscurity  which  may 
appear  in  the  version  is  a fair  copy  of  the  obscurity  of 
the  Greek.  If  I should  ever  revise  this  version,  I 
would  gladly  make  use  of  any  corrections  which  may 
be  suggested.  If  I have  not  given  the  best  words  for 
the  Greek,  I have  done  the  best  that  I could ; and  in 
the  text  I have  always  given  the  same  translation  of 
the  same  word. 

The  last  reflection  of  the  Stoic  philosophy  that  I 
have  observed  is  in  Simplicius’  Commentary  on  the 
Encheiridion  of  Epictetus.  Simphcius  was  not  a 
Christian,  and  such  a man  was  not  likely  to  be  con- 
verted at  a time  when  Christianity  was  grossly  cor- 
rupted. But  he  was  a really  religious  man,  and  he 
concludes  his  commentary  with  a prayer  to  the  Deity 
which  no  Christian  could  improve.  From  the  time  of 
Zeno  to  Simplicius,  a period  of  about  nine  hundred 
years,  the  Stoic  philosophy  formed  the  characters  of 
some  of  the  best  and  greatest  men.  Finally  it  became 
extinct,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  it  till  the  revival  of 
letters  in  Italy.  Angelo  Poliziano  met  with  two  very 
inaccurate  and  incomplete  manuscripts  of  Epictetus’ 
Encheiridion,  which  he  translated  into  Latin  and  dedi- 
cated to  his  great  patron  Lorenzo  de’  Medici,  in  whose 


28 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 


collection  he  had  found  the  book.  Poliziano’s  version 
was  printed  in  the  first  Bfile  edition  of  the  Encheiridion, 
A.  D.  1531  (apud  And.  Cratandruin).  Poliziano  recom- 
mends the  Encheiridion  to  Lorenzo  as  a work  well 
suited  to  his  temper,  and  useful  in  the  difficulties  by 
which  he  Avas  surrounded. 

Epictetus  and  Antoninus  have  had  readers  ever  since 
they  were  first  printed.  The  little  book  of  Antoninus 
has  been  the  companion  of  some  great  men.  Machia- 
velli’s  Art  of  War  and  Marcus  Antoninus  Avere  the  turn 
books  Avhich  Avere  used  Avhen  he  Avas  a young  man  by 
Captain  John  Smith,  and  he  could  not  haAm  found  tAvo 
AAWiters  better  fitted  to  form  the  character  of  a soldier 
and  a man.  Smith  is  almost  unknoAvn  and  forgotten 
in  England,  his  nature  country,  but  not  in  America 
Avhei-e  he  saved  the  young  colony  of  Virginia.  He 
Avas  great  in  his  heroic  mind  and  his  deeds  in  arms,  but 
greater  still  m the  nobleness  of  his  character.  For  a 
man’s  greatness  lies  not  in  wealth  and  station,  as  the 
Audgar  believe,  nor  yet  in  his  intellectual  capacity, 
Avhich  is  often  associated  with  the  meanest  moral 
character,  the  most  abject  servility  to  those  in  high 
places  and  arrogance  to  the  poor  and  loAAdy ; but  a 
man’s  true  greatness  lies  in  the  consciousness  of  an 
honest  purpose  in  life,  founded  on  a just  estimate  of 
himself  and  everAdhing  else,  on  frequent  self-examina- 
tion, and  a steady  obedience  to  the  rule  Avhich  he 
knoAA^s  to  be  right,  Avithout  troubling  himself,  as  the 
emperor  says  he  should  not,  about  Avhat  others  may 
think  or  say,  or  Avhether  they  do  or  do  not  do  that 
Avhich  he  thinks  and  says  and  does. 


THE  PHILOSOPHY 


OP 


Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 


BY 


THE  TRANSLATOR. 


The  Philosophy  of 


Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus, 


It  has  been  said  that  the  Stoic  philosophy  first 
showed  its  real  value  when  it  passed  from  Greece  to 
Rome.  The  doctrines  of  Zeno  and  his  successors  wmre 
well  suited  to  the  gravity  and  practical  good  sense  of 
the  Romans ; and  even  in  the  Republican  period  we 
have  an  example  of  a man,  M.  Cato  Uticensis,  who 
lived  the  life  of  a Stoic  and  died  consistently  wiLii  the 
opinions  which  he  professed.  He  was  a man,  says 
Cicero,  who  embraced  the  Stoic  philosophy  froni  con- 
viction ; not  for  the  purpose  of  vain  discussion,  as  most 
did,  but  in  order  to  make  his  life  conformable  to  the 
Stoic  precepts.  In  the  wretched  times  from  the  death 
of  Augustus  to  the  murder  of  Domitian,  there  was 
nothing  but  the  Stoic  philosophy  which  could  console 
and  support  the  followers  of  the  old  religion  under 
imperial  tyranny  and  amid  universal  corruption. 
There  were  even  then  noble  minds  that  could  dare  and 
endure,  sustained  by  a good  conscience  and  an  elevated 
idea  of  the  purposes  of  man’s  existence.  Such  were 
Paetus  Thrasea,  Helvidius  Priscus,  Cornutus,  C.  Muso- 
nius  Rufus,*  and  the  poets  Persius  and  Juvenal,  wdiose 


*I  have  omitted  Seneca,  Nero’s  preceptor.  He  was  in  a sense  a 
Stoic,  and  he  has  said  many  good  things  in  a very  fine  way.  There  is 


32 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


enero'etic  language  and  manly  thoughts  may  be  as 
instructive  to  us  now  as  they  might  have  been  to  their 
contemporaries.  Persius  died  under  Nero’s  blood}'" 
reign,  but  Juvenal  had  the  good  fortune  to  survive  the 
tyrant  Domitian  and  to  see  the  better  times  of  Nerva, 
Trajan  and  Hadrian.'’'"  His  best  precepts  are  derived 
from  the  Stoic  school,  and  they  are  enforced  in  his 
finest  verses  by  the  unrivaled  vigor  of  the  Latin 
language. 

The  two  best  expounders  of  the  later  Stoical  philos- 
ophy were  a Greek  slave  and  a Roman  emperor. 
Epictetus,  a Phrygian  Greek,  was  brought  to  Rome,  we 
know  not  how,  but  he  was  there  the  slave  and  after- 
ward the  freedman  of  an  unworthy  master,  Epaphro- 
ditus  by  name,  himself  a freedman  and  a favorite  of 
Nero.  Epictetus  may  have  been  a hearer  of  0.  Muso- 
nius  Rufus,  while  he  was  still  a slave,  but  he  could 
hardly  have  been  a teacher  before  he  was  made  free. 
He  was  one  of  the  philosophers  whom  Domitian’s 
order  banished  from  Rome.  He  retired  to  Nicopolis 
in  Epirus,  and  he  may  have  died  there.  Like  other 
great  teachers  he  wrote  nothing,  and  we  are  indebted 
to  his  grateful  pupil  Arrian  for  what  we  have  of 
Epictetus’  discourses.  Arrian  wrote  eight  books  of 
the  discourses  of  Epictetus,  of  which  only  four  remain 

a judgment  of  Gellius  (xii.  2)  on  Seneca,  or  rather  a statement  of  what 
some  people  thought  of  his  philosophy,  and  it  is  not  favorable.  His 
writings  and  his  life  must  be  taken  together,  and  I have  nothing 
more  to  say  of  him  here.  The  reader  will  find  a notice  of  Seneca  and 
his  philofsophy  in  “ Seekers  after  God,”  by  the  Eev.  F.  W.  Farrar. 

* Ribbeck  has  labored  to  prove  that  those  Satires,  which  contain 
philosophical  precejits,  are  not  the  work  of  the  real,  but  of  a false 
Juvenal,  a Declamator.  Still  the  verses  exist,  and  were  written  by 
somebody  who  was  acquainted  with  the  Stoic  doctrines. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


33 


and  some  fragments.  We  have  also  from  Arrian’s 
hand  the  small  Encheiridion  or  Manual  of  the  chief 
precepts  of  Epictetus.  There  is  a a valuable  commen- 
tary on  the  Encheiridion  by  Simplicius,  who  lived  in 
the  time  of  the  Emperor  Justinian.'^ 

Antoninus  in  his  first  book  (i.  7),  in  which  he  grate- 
fully commemorates  his  obligations  to  his  teachers, 
says  that  he  was  made  acquainted  by  Junius  Rusticus 
with  the  discourses  of  Epictetus,  whom  he  mentions 
also  in  other  passages  (iv.  41 ; xi.  34,  36).  Indeed,  the 
doctrines  of  Epictetus  and  Antoninus  are  the  same, 
and  Epictetus  is  the  best  authority  for  the  explanation 
of  the  philosophical  language  of  Antoninus  and  the 
exposition  of  his  opinions.  But  the  method  of  the 
two  philosophers  is  entirely  different.  Epictetus 
addressed  himself  to  his  hearers  in  a continuous  dis- 
course and  in  a familiar  and  simple  manner.  Anton- 
inus wrote  down  his  reflections  for  his  own  use  only, 
in  short,  unconnected  paragraphs,  which  are  often 
obscure. 

The  Stoics  made  three  divisions  of  philosophy. 
Physic,  Ethic  and  Logic  (viii.  13).  This  division,  we  are 
told  by  Diogenes,  was  made  by  Zeno  of  Citium,  the 
founder  of  the  Stoic  sect,  and  by  Chrysippus  ; but 
these  philosophers  placed  the  three  divisions  in  the 
following  order.  Logic,  Physic,  Ethic.  It  appears, 
however,  that  this  division  was  made  before  Zeno’s 
time  and  acknowledged  by  Plato,  as  Cicero  remarks 
(Acad.  Post.  i.  5).  Logic  is  not  synonymous  with  our 
term  Logic  in  the  narrower  sense  of  that  word. 

* There  is  a complete  edition  of  Arrian’s  Epictetus,  with  the  com- 
mentary of  Simplicius  by  J.  Schweighaeuser,  6 vols.  8vo.  1799,  1800. 
There  is  also  an  English  translation  of  Epictetus  by  Prof.  Long,  pub- 
lished in  this  series:  Burt’s  Library  of  the  World’s  Best  Books. 


34 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


Cleantlies,  a Stoic,  subdivided  the  three  divisions, 
and  made  six:  Dialectic  and  Rhetoric,  comprised  in 
Logic ; Ethic  and  Politic ; Physic  and  Theology. 
This  division  was  merely  for  practical  use,  for  all 
Idiilosopliy  is  one.  Even  among  the  earliest  Stoics, 
Logic  or  Dialectic  does  not  occupy  the  same  place  as 
in  Plato  : it  is  considered  only  as  an  instrument  which 
is  to  be  used  for  the  other  divisions  of  Philosophy. 
An  exposition  of  the  earlier  Stoic  doctrines  and  of 
their  modifications  would  require  a volume.  My  object 
is  to  explain  only  the  opinions  of  Antoninus,  so  far  as 
they  can  be  collected  from  his  book. 

According  to  the  subdivision  of  Cleanthes,  Physic 
and  Theology  go  together,  or  the  stud}'  of  the  nature 
of  Things  and  the  study  of  the  nature  of  the  Deity,  so 
far  as  man  can  understand  the  Deity,  and  of  his  govern- 
ment of  the  universe.  This  division  or  subdivision  is 
not  formally  adopted  by  Antoninus,  for,  as  already 
observed,  there  is  no  method  in  his  book,  but  it  is 
virtually  contained  in  it. 

Cleanthes  also  connects  Ethic  and  Politic,  or  the 
study  of  the  ])rinciples  of  morals  and  the  study  of  the 
constitution  of  civil  society;  and  undoubtedly  he  did 
well  in  subdividing  Ethic  into  two  parts.  Ethic  in  the 
narrower  sense  and  Politic,  for  though  the  two  are  in- 
timately connected  they  are  also  very  distinct,  and 
many  questions  can  only  be  properly  discussed  by 
carefully  observing  the  distinction.  Antoninus  does 
not  treat  of  Politic.  Llis  subject  is  Ethic,  and  Ethic 
in  its  practical  application  to  his  own  conduct  in  life 
as  a man  and  as  a governor.  His  Ethic  is  founded  on 
his  doctrines  about  man’s  nature,  the  Universal  ISlature, 
and  the  relation  of  every  man  to  everything  else.  It 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


35 


is  therefore  intimately  and  inseparably  connected  with 
Physic  or  the  nature  of  Things,  and  with  Theology  or 
the  nature  of  the  Deity.  He  advises  us  to  examine 
well  all  the  impressions  on  our  minds  {<pavTa6iai)  and 
to  form  a right  judgment  of  them,  to  make  just  con- 
clusions, and  to  inquire  into  the  meanings  of  words, 
and  so  far  to  apply  Dialectic,  but  he  has  no  attempt  at 
any  exposition  of  Dialectic,  and  his  philosophy  is  in 
substance  purely  moral  and  practical.  He  says  (viii. 
13),  “ Constantly  and,  if  it  be  possible,  on  the  occasion 
of  every  impression  on  the  soul,*  apply  to  it  the  prin- 
ciples of  Physic,  of  Ethic  and  of  Dialectic which  is 
only  another  way  of  telling  us  to  examine  the  impres- 
sion in  every  possible  way.  In  another  passage  (iii.  11) 
he  says,  “ To  the  aids  which  have  been  mentioned  let 
this  one  still  be  added : make  for  thyself  a definition 
or  description  of  the  object  (rd  cpavraerSv)  which  is  pre- 
sented to  thee,  so  as  to  see  distinctly  what  kind  of  a 
thing  it  is  in  its  substance,  in  its  nudity,  in  its  com- 
plete entirety,  and  tell  thyself  its  proper  name,  and  the 
names  of  the  things  of  which  it  has  been  compounded 
and  into  which  it  will  be  resolved.”  Such  an  examina- 
tion implies  a use  of  Dialectic,  which  Antoninus  accord- 
ingly employed  as  a means  toward  establishing  his 
Physical,  Theological  and  Ethical  principles. 

There  are  several  expositions  of  the  Physical,  Theo- 
logical and  Ethical  principles,  which  are  contained  in 

* The  original  is  evti  7td(3rfi  qyavradiaS.  We  have  no  word  which 
expresses  gjavradia,  for  it  is  not  only  the  sensuous  appearance  which 
comes  from  an  external  object,  which  object  is  called  rd  (pavradrov, 
but  it  is  also  the  thought  or  feeling  or  opinion  which  is  produced 
even  when  there  is  no  corresponding  external  object  before  us.  Ac- 
cordingly everything  which  moves  the  soul  is  (pavradrov  and  pro- 
duces a cpvaradia. 


36 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


the  work  of  Antoninus ; and  more  expositions  than  I 
have  read.  Ritter  (Geschichte  der  Philosophie,  iv. 
2dl),  after  explaining  the  doctrines  of  Epictetus,  treats 
very  briefly  and  insufficiently  those  of  Antoninus.  But 
he  refers  to  a short  essay,  in  which  the  work  is  done 
better.*  There  is  also  an  essay  on  the  Philosophical 
Principles  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  by  J.  M. 
Schultz,  placed  at  the  end  of  his  German  translation 
of  Antoninus  (Schleswig,  1799).  With  the  assistance 
of  these  tAvo  useful  essays  and  his  own  diligent  study  a 
man  may  form  a sufficient  notion  of  the  principles  of 
Antoninus,  but  he  Avill  find  it  more  difficult  to  expound 
them  to  others.  Besides  the  Avant  of  arrangement  in 
the  original  and  of  connection  among  the  numerous 
paragraphs,  the  corruption  of  the  text,  the  obscurity  of 
the  language  and  the  style,  and  sometimes  perhaps  the 
contusion  in  the  Avriter’s  OAvn  ideas — besides  all  this 
there  is  occasionally  an  apparent  contradiction  in  the 
emperor’s  thoughts,  as  if  his  principles  Avere  sometimes 
unsettled,  as  if  doubt  sometimes  clouded  his  mind.  A 
man  avIio  leads  a life  of  tranquillity  and  reflection, 
Avho  is  not  disturbed  at  home  and  meddles  not  Avith 
the  affairs  of  the  Avorld,  may  keep  his  mind  at  ease  and 
his  thoughts  in  one  even  course.  But  such  a man  has 
not  been  tried.  All  his  Ethical  jihilosophy  and  his 
passive  virtue  might  turn  out  to  be  idle  Avords  if  he 
Avere  once  exposed  to  the  rude  realities  of  human  exist- 
ence. Fine  thoughts  and  moral  dissertations  from  men 
Avho  have  not  Avorked  and  suffered  may  be  read,  but 
they  will  be  forgotten.  ISTo  religion,  no  Ethical  philoso- 
phy is  Avorth  anything  if  the  teacher  has  not  lived  the 

*De  Marco  Aurelio  Aiitonino,  ex  ipsius  Commentariis.  Scriptic 
Pliilologica.  Instituit  Nicolaus  Bacliius,  Lipsise,  1826. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


37 


“life  of  an  apostle”  and  been  ready  to  die  “the  death 
of  a martyr.”  “ ISTot  in  passivity  (the  passive  alfects), 
but  in  activity,  lie  the  evil  and  the  good  of  the  rational 
social  animal,  just  as  his  virtue  and  his  vice  lie  not  in 
passivity,  but  in  activity”  (ix.  16).  The  emperor  An- 
toninus was  a practical  moralist.  From  his  youth  he 
followed  a laborious  discipline,  and  though  his  high 
station  placed  him  above  all  want  or  the  fear  of  it,  he 
lived  as  frugally  and  temperately  as  the  poorest  philoso- 
pher. Epictetus  wanted  little,  and  it  seems  that  he 
always  had  the  little  that  he  wanted,  and  he  was  con- 
tent with  it,  as  he  had  been  with  his  servile  station. 
But  Antoninus,  after  his  accession  to  the  empire,  sat  on 
an  uneasy  seat.  He  had  the  administration  of  an  em- 
pire which  extended  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Atlan- 
tic, from  the  cold  mountains  of  Scotland  to  the  hot 
sands  of  Africa;  and  we  may  imagine,  though  we  can- 
not know  it  by  experience,  what  must  be  the  trials,  the 
troubles,  the  anxiety  and  the  sorrows  of  him  who  has 
the  world’s  business  on  his  hands  with  the  wish  to  do 
the  best  that  he  can  and  the  certain  knowledge  that 
he  can  do  very  little  of  the  good  which  he  wishes. 

In  the  midst  of  war,  pestilence,  conspiracy,  general 
corruption,  and  with  the  weight  of  so  unwieldy  an  em- 
pire upon  him,  we  may  easily  comprehend  that  An- 
toninus often  had  need  of  all  his  fortitude  to  support 
him.  The  best  and  the  bravest  men  have  moments  of 
doubt  and  of  weakness,  but  if  they  are  the  best  and  the 
bravest  they  rise  again  from  their  depression  by  recur- 
ring to  first  principles,  as  Antoninus  does.  The  em- 
peror says  that  life  is  smoke,  a vapor,  and  St.  James,  in 
his  Epistle,  is  of  the  same  mind ; that  the  world  is  full 
of  envious,  jealous,  malignant  people,  and  a man  might 


38 


PEIL080PHT  OF 


be  Aveil  content  to  get  out  of  it.  He  has  doubts  per- 
haps sometimes  even  about  that  to  which  he  holds 
most  firmly.  There  are  only  a few  passages  of  this 
kind,  but  they  are  evidence  of  the  struggles  which 
even  the  noblest  of  the  sons  of  men  had  to  maintain 
against  the  hard  realities  of  his  daily  life.  A j^oor 
remark  it  is,  which  I have  seen  somewhere,  and  made 
in  a disparaging  way,  that  the  emperor’s  reflections 
show  that  he  had  need  of  consolation  and  comfort 
in  life,  and  even  to  prepare  him  to  meet  his  death. 
True  that  he  did  need  comfort  and  support,  and 
we  see  how  he  found  it.  He  constantly  recurs  to 
his  fundamental  principle  that  the  universe  is  wisely 
ordered,  that  every  man  is  a part  of  it  and  must 
conform  to  that  order  which  he  cannot  change,  that 
whatever  the  Deity  has  done  is  good,  and  that  all 
mankind  are  a man’s  brethren,  that  he  must  love  and 
cherish  them  and  try  to  make  them  better,  even  those 
who  would  do  him  harm.  This  is  his  conclusion  (ii. 
17) : “What,  then,  is  that  which  is  able  to  conduct  a 
man?  One  thing,  and  only  one — Philosophy.  But 
this  consists  in  keeping  the  divinity  within  a man  free 
from  violence  and  unharmed,  superior  to  pains  and 
pleasures,  doing  nothing  without  a purpose,  nor  yet 
falsely  and  with  hypocrisy,  not  feeling  the  need  of  an- 
other  man’s  doing  or  not  doing  anything ; and  besides, 
accepting  all  that  happens  and  all  that  is  alloted, 
as  coming  from  thence,  wherever  it  is,  from  whence 
he  himself  came ; and  finally  waiting  for  death  with  a 
cheerful  mind  as  being  nothing  else  than  a dissolution 
of  the  elements,  of  which  every  living  being  is  com- 
pounded. But  if  there  is  no  harm  to  the  elements 
themselves  in  each  continually  changing  into  another, 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


39 


why  should  a man  have  any  apprehension  about  the 
change  and  dissolution  of  all  the  elements  [himself]  ? 
for  it  is  according  to  nature  ; and  nothing  is  evil  that 
is  according  to  nature.” 

The  Physic  of  Antoninus  is  the  knowledge  of  the 
Nature  of  the  Universe,  of  its  government,  and  of  the 
relation  of  man’s  nature  to  both.  He  names  the  uni 
verse  “the  universal  substance,”  and  he  adds  that 
“ reason  ” governs  the  universe.  He  also  (vi.  9)  uses 
the  terms  “ universal  nature  ” or  “ nature  of  the 
universe.”  He  (vi.  25)  calls  the  universe  “ the  one  and 
all,  which  we  name  Cosmos  or  Order.”  If  he  ever 
seems  to  use  these  general  terms  as  significant  of  the 
All,  of  all  that  man  can  in  any  way  conceive  to  exist, 
he  still  on  other  occasions  plainly  distinguishes  between 
Matter,  Material  things  and  Cause,  Origin,  Eeason.* 

* I remark,  in  order  to  anticipate  any  misapprehension,  that  all 
these  general  terms  involve  a contradiction.  The  “ one  and  all,”  and 
the  like,  and  “the  whole”  imply  limitation.  “One”  is  limited; 
“all”  is  limited;  the  “whole”  is  limited.  We  cannot  help  it.  We 
cannot  find  words  to  express  that  which  we  cannot  fully  conceive. 
The  addition  of  “absolute,”  or  any  other  such  word,  does  not  mend 
the  matter.  Even  the  word  God  is  used  by  most  people,  often  uncon- 
sciously, in  such  a way  that  limitation  is  implied,  and  yet  at  the  same 
time  words  are  added  which  are  intended  to  deny  limitation.  A 
Christian  martyr,  when  he  was  asked  what  God  was,  is  said  to  have 
answered  that  God  has  no  name  like  a man;  and  Justin  says  the  same 
(Apol.  ii.  6),  “the  names  Father,  God,  Creator,  Lord  and  Master  are 
not  names,  but  appellations  derived  from  benefactions  and  acts.” 
(Compare  Seneca,  De  Benef.  iv.  8.)  We  can  conceive  the  existence  of 
a thing,  or  rather  we  may  have  the  idea  of  an  existence,  without  an 
adequate  notion  of  it,  “adequate”  meaning  coextensive  and  coequal 
with  the  thing.  We  have  a notion  of  limited  space  derived  from  the 
dimensions  of  what  we  call  a material  thing,  though  of  space  absolute, 
if  I may  use  the  term,  we  have  no  notion  at  all ; and  of  infinite  space 
the  notion  is  the  same,  no  notion  at  all;  and  yet  we  conceive  it  in  a 
sense,  though  I know  not  how,  and  we  believe  that  space  is  infinite, 
and  we  cannst  conceive  it  to  finite.  . 


40 


PHILO  SOPHY  OF 


This  is  conformable  to  Zeno’s  doctrine  that  there  are 
two  original  principles  of  all  things,  that  which  acts 
and  that  which  is  acted  upon.  That  which  is  acted  on 
is  the  formless  matter,  that  which  acts  is  the  reason, 
God,  who  is  eternal  and  operates  through  all  matter, 
and  produces  all  things.  So  Antoninus  (v.  32)  speaks  of 
the  reason  which  pervades  all  substance  and  through 
all  time  by  fixed  periods  (revolutions),  administers  the 
universe.  God  is  eternal,  and  Matter  is  eternal.  It  is 
God  who  gives  form  to  matter,  but  he  is  not  said  to 
have  created  matter.  According  to  this  view,  which 
is  as  old  as  Anaxagoras,  God  and  matter  exist  inde- 
pendently, but  God  governs  matter.  This  doctrine  is 
simply  the  expression  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  both 
of  matter  and  of  God.  The  Stoics  did  not  perplex 
themselves  with  the  insoluble  question  of  the  origin 
and  nature  of  matter.*  Antoninus  also  assumes  a 

* The  notions  of  matter  and  of  space  are  inseparable.  We  derive 
the  notion  of  space  from  matter  and  form.  But  we  have  no  adequate 
conception  either  of  matter  or  of  space.  Matter  in  its  ultimate  reso- 
lution is  as  unintelligible  as  what  men  call  mind,  spirit,  or  by  what- 
ever other  name  they  may  express  the  power  which  makes  itself 
known  by  acts.  Anaxagoras  laid  down  the  distinction  between  in- 
telligence (vovi)  and  matter,  and  he  said  that  intelligence  impressed 
motion  on  matter,  and  so  separated  the  elements  of  matter  and  gave 
them  order;  but  he  probably  only  assumed  a beginning,  as  Simplicius 
says,  as  a foundation  of  his  philosophical  teaching.  Empedocles 
said  “The  universe  always  existed.”  He  had  no  idea  of  what  is 
called  creation.  Ocellus  Lucanus  (1,  § 2)  maintained  that  the  Universe 
was  imperishable  and  uncreated.  Consequently  it  is  eternal.  He 
admitted  the  existence  of  God;  hut  his  Theology  would  require  some 
discussion.  On  the  contrary,  the  Brachmans,  according  to  Strabo  (p. 
713,  ed.  Cas.),  taught  that  the  universe  was  created  and  perishable; 
and  the  creator  and  administrator  of  it  pervades  the  whole.  The 
author  of  the  book  of  Solomon’s  Wisdom  says  (xi.  17):  “ Thy  Almighty 
hand  made  the  world  of  matter  without  form,”  which  may  mean 
that  matter  existed  already.  The  common  Greek  word  which  we 
translate  “matter  ” is  It  is  the  stuff  that  things  are  made  of. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


41 


beginning  of  things,  as  we  now  know  them ; but  his 
language  is  sometimes  very  obscure.  I have  endeav- 
ored to  explain  the  meaning  of  one  difficult  passage 
(vii.  75,  and  the  note). 

Matter  consists  of  elemental  parts  of  which  all 
material  objects  are  made.  But  nothing  is  permanent 
in  form.  The  nature  of  the  universe,  according  to 
Antoninus’  expression  (iv.  36),  “ loves  nothing  so  much 
as  to  change  the  things  which  are,  and  to  make  new 
things  like  them.  For  everything  that  exists  is  in  a 
manner  the  seed  of  that  which  will  be.  But  thou  art 
thinking  only  of  seeds  which  are  cast  into  the  earth  or 
into  a womb ; but  this  is  a very  vulgar  notion.”  All 
things  then  are  in  a constant  flux  and  change ; some 
things  are  dissolved  into  the  elements,  others  come  in 
their  places ; and  so  the  “ whole  universe  continues 
ever  young  and  perfect.”  (xii.  23.) 

Antoninus  has  some  obscure  expressions  about  what 
he  calls  “ seminal  principles.”  He  opposes  them  to  the 
Epicurean  atoms  (vi.  24),  and  consequently  his  “ seminal 
principles”  are  not  material  atoms  which  wander 
about  at  hazard,  and  combine  nobody  knows  how.  In 
one  passage  (iv.  21)  he  speaks  of  living  principles,  souls 
after  the  dissolution  of  their  bodies  being  received  into 
the  “ seminal  principle  of  the  universe.”  Schultz 
thinks  that  by  “ seminal  principles  Antoninus  means 
the  relations  of  the  various  elemental  principles,  which 
relations  are  determined  by  the  deity  and  by  which 
alone  the  production  of  organized  beings  is  possible.” 
This  may  be  the  meaning,  but  if  it  is,  nothing  of  any 
value  can  be  derived  from  it.*  Antoninus  often  uses 

* The  early  Christian  writers  were  familiar  with  the  Stoic  terms, 
and  their  writings  show  that  the  contest  was  begun  between  the 
Christian  expositors  and  the  Greek  philosophy. 


42 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


the  word  “Nature”  and  we  must  attempt  to  fix  its 
meaning.  The  simple  etymological  sense  of  the  Greek 
word  is  “production,”  the  birth  of  what  we  call 
Things.  The  Romans  used  Natura,  which  also  means 
“ birth  ” originally.  But  neither  the  Greeks  nor  the 
Romans  stuck  to  this  simple  meaning,  nor  do  we. 
Antoninus  says  (x.  6) : “ Whether  the  universe  is  [a 
concourse  of]  atoms  or  Nature  [is  a system],  let  this 
first  be  established  that  I am  a part  of  the  whole  which 
is  governed  by  nature.”  Here  it  might  seem  as  if 
nature  were  personified  and  viewed  as  an  active, 
efficient  power,  as  something  which,  if  not  independent 
of  the  Deity,  acts  by  a power  which  is  given  to  it  by 
the  Deity.  Such,  if  I understand  the  expression  right, 
is  the  way  in  which  the  word  Nature  is  often  used 
now,  though  it  is  plain  that  many  writers  use  the 
word  Avithout  fixing  any  exact  meaning  to  it.  It  is 
the  same  Avith  the  expression  Laws  of  Nature,  Avhich 
some  Avriters  may  use  in  an  intelligible  sense,  but 
others  as  clearly  use  in  no  definite  sense  at  all.  There 
is  no  meaning  in  this  Avord  Nature,  except  that  Avhich 
Bishop  Butler  assigns  to  it,  Avhen  he  says,  “ The  only 
distinct  meaning  of  that  Avord  Natural  is  Stated,  Fixed 
or  Settled ; since  what  is  natural  as  much  requires  and 
presupposes  an  intelligent  agent  ta  render  it  so,  viz.,  to 
effect  it  continually  or  at  stated  times,  as  Avhat  is  super- 
natural or  miraculous  does  to  effect  it  at  once.”  This 
is  Plato’s  meaning  (De  Leg.  iv.  715),  Avhen  he  says, 
that  God  holds  the  beginning  and  end  and  middle  of 
all  that  exists,  and  proceeds  straight  on  his  course, 
making  his  circuit  according  to  nature  (that  is,  by  a 
fixed  order) ; and  he  is  continually  accompanied  by 
justice  Avho  punishes  those  who  deviate  from  the  divine 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


43 


law,  that  is,  from  the  order  or  course  which  God 
observes. 

When  we  look  at  the  motions  of  the  planets,  the 
action  of  what  we  call  gravitation,  the  elemental  com- 
bination of  unorganized  bodies  and  their  resolution,  the 
production  of  plants  and  of  living  bodies,  their  genera- 
tion, growth,  and  their  dissolution,  which  we  call  their 
death,  we  observe  a regular  sequence  of  phenomena, 
which  within  the  limits  of  experience,  present  and  past, 
so  far  as  we  know  the  past,  is  fixed  and  invariable. 
But  if  this  is  not  so,  if  the  order  and  sequence  of 
phenomena,  as  known  to  us,  are  subject  to  change  in 
the  course  of  an  infinite  progression — and  such  change 
is  conceivable — we  have  not  discovered,  nor  shall  we 
ever  discover,  the  whole  of  the  order  and  sequence  of 
phenomena,  in  which  sequence  there  may  be  involved 
according  to  its  very  nature,  that  is,  according  to  its 
fixed  order,  some  variation  of  what  we  now  call  the 
Order  or  Nature  of  Things.  It  is  also  conceivable  that 
such  changes  have  taken  place,  changes  in  the  order  of 
things,  as  we  are  compelled  by  the  imperfection  of 
language  to  call  them,  but  which  are  no  changes ; and 
further,  it  is  certain  that  our  knowledge  of  the  true 
sequence  of  all  actual  phenomena,  as  for  instance,  the 
phenomena  of  generation,  growth,  and  dissolution  is, 
and  ever  must  be,  imperfect. 

We  do  not  fare  much  better  when  we  speak  of 
Causes  and  Effects  than  when  we  speak  of  Nature. 
For  the  practical  purposes  of  life  we  may  use  the 
terms  cause  and  effect  conveniently,  and  we  may  fix  a 
distinct  meaning  to  them,  distinct  enough  at  least  to 
prevent  all  misunderstanding.  But  the  case  is  differ- 
ent when  we  speak  of  causes  and  effects  as  of  Things. 


44 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


All  that  we  know  is  phenomena,  as  the  Greeks  called 
them,  or  appearances  which  follow  one  another  in  a 
regular  order,  as  we  conceive  it,  so  that  if  some  one 
phenomenon  should  fail  in  the  series,  we  conceive  that 
there  must  either  be  an  interruption  of  the  series,  or 
that  something  else  will  appear  after  the  phenomenon 
which  has  failed  to  appear,  and  will  occupy  the  vacant 
place;  and  so  the  series  in  its  progression  may  be 
modified  or  totally  changed.  Cause  and  effect  then 
mean  nothing  in  the  sequence  of  natural  phenomena 
beyond  what  I have  said  ; and  the  real  cause,  or  the 
transcendant  cause,  as  some  would  call  it,  of  each  suc- 
cessive phenomena  is  in  that  which  is  the  cause  of  all 
things  which  are,  which  have  been,  and  which  will  be 
forever.  Thus  the  word  Creation  may  have  a real 
sense  if  we  consider  it  as  the  first,  if  we  can  conceive  a 
first,  in  the  present  order  of  natural  phenomena ; but 
in  the  vulgar  sense  a creation  of  all  things  at  a certain 
time,  followed  by  a quiescence  of  the  first  cause  and 
an  abandonment  of  all  sequences  of  Phenomena  to  the 
laws  of  Nature,  or  to  the  other  words  that  people  may 
use,  is  absolutely  absurd.* 


* Time  and  space  are  the  conditions  of  our  thought;  but  time 
infinite  and  space  infinite  cannot  be  objects  of  thought,  except  in  a 
very  imperfect  way.  Time  and  space  must  not  in  any  way  be  thought 
of,  when  we  think  of  the  Deity.  Swedenborg  says,  “The  natural 
man  may  believe  that  he  would  have  no  thought,  if  the  ideas  of  time, 
of  space,  and  of  things  material  were  taken  awc";  for  upon  those  is 
founded  all  the  thought  that  man  has.  But  let  him  know  that  the 
thoughts  are  limited  and  confined  in  proportion  as  they  do  not  partake 
of  time,  of  space,  and  of  what  is  material;  and  that  they  are  not 
limited  and  are  extended,  in  proportion  as  they  do  not  partake  of  those 
things;  since  the  mind  is  so  far  elevated  above  the  things  corporeal 
and  worldly.”  (Concerning  Heaven  and  Hell,  169.) 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


45 


Now,  though  there  is  great  difficulty  in  understand- 
ing all  the  passages  of  Antoninus,  in  which  he  speaks 
of  Nature,  of  the  changes  of  things  and  of  the  economy 
of  the  universe,  I am  convinced  that  his  sense  of 
Nature  and  Natural  is  the  same  as  that  which  I have 
stated ; and  as  he  was  a man  who  knew  how  to  use 
Avords  in  a clear  way  and  with  strict  consistency,  we 
ought  to  assume,  even  if  his  meaning  in  some  passages 
is  doubtful,  that  his  view  of  Nature  was  in  harmony 
Avith  his  fixed  belief  in  the  all-perA’^ading,  ever  present, 
and  ever  active  energy  of  God  (ii.  4;  40 ; x.  1 ; a4. 

40. ; and  other  passages.  Compare  Seneca,  De  Benef. 
iv.  7.  Swedenborg,  Angelic  Wisdom,  349-357). 

There  is  much  in  Antoninus  that  is  hard  to  under- 
stand, and  it  might  be  said  that  he  did  not  fully  com- 
prehend all  that  he  Avrote ; which  would,  hoAA^ever,  be 
in  no  way  remarkable,  for  it  happens  now  that  a man 
may  Avrite  what  neither  he  nor  anybody  can  under- 
stand. Antoninus  tells  us  (xii.  10)  to  look  at  things 
and  see  Avhat  they  are,  resolving  them  into  the 
material,  the  casual,  and  the  relation,  or  the  purpose,  by 
Avhich  he  seems  to  mean  something  in  the  nature  of 
Avhat  AA"e  call  effect,  or  end.  The  Avord  Cause  is 
the  difficulty.  There  is  the  same  Avord  in  the  Sanscrit ; 
and  the  subtle  philosophers  of  India  and  Greece, 
and  the  less  subtle  philosophers  of  modern  times 
have  all  used  this  Avord,  or  an  equivalent  Avord,  in 
a vague  way.  Yet  the  confusion  sometimes  may  be 
in  the  ineAutable  ambiguity  of  language  rather  than  in 
the  mind  of  the  AAwiter,  for  I cannot  think  that  some  of 
the  Avisest  of  men  did  not  know  Avhat  theA^  intended  to 
say.  When  Antoninus  says  (iv.  36),  “that  eAmry thing 
that  exists  is  in  a manner  the  seed  of  that  Avhich  aaoU  be,” 


46 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


he  might  be  supposed  to  say  what  some  of  the  Indian 
philosophers  hav^e  said,  and  thus  a profound  truth  might 
be  converted  into  a gross  absurdity.  But  he  says,  “ in 
a manner,”  and  in  a manner  he  said  true ; and  in  another 
manner,  if  you  mistake  his  meaning,  he  said  false. 
When  Plato  said,  “Nothing  ever  is,  but  is  alwa^'s  be- 
coming,” he  delivered  a text,  out  of  which  we  may 
derive  something;  for  he  destroys  by  it  not  all  prac 
tical,  but  all  speculative  notions  of  cause  and  effect. 
The  whole  series  of  things,  as  they  appear  to  us,  must 
be  contemplated  in  time,  that  is  in  succession,  and  we 
conceive  or  suppose  intervals  between  one  state  of 
things  and  another  state  of  things,  so  that  there  is 
priority  and  sequence,  and  interval,  and  Being,  and  a 
ceasing  to  Be,  and  beginning  and  ending.  But  there 
is  nothing  of  the  kind  in  the  Nature  of  Things.  It  is 
an  everlasting  continuity  (iv.  45;  vii.  75).  When 
Antoninus  speaks  of  generation  (x.  26),  he  speaks  of 
one  cause  acting,  and  then  another  cause  taking  up  the 
work,  which  the  former  left  in  a certain  state  and  so 
on;  and  we  might  perhaps  conceive  that  he  had  some 
notion  like  what  has  been  called  “the  self-evolving 
power  of  nature ;”  a fine  phrase  indeed,  the  full  import 
of  which  I believe  that  the  writer  of  it  did  not  see,  and 
thus  he  laid  himself  open  to  the  imputation  of  being  a 
follower  of  one  of  the  Hindoo  sects,  which  makes  all 
things  come  by  evolution  out  of  nature  or  matter,  or 
out  of  something  which  takes  the  place  of  deity,  but  is 
not  deity.  I would  have  all  men  think  as  they  please, 
or  as  they  can,  and  I only  claim  the  same  freedom  which 
I give.  When  a man  writes  anything,  we  may  fairl}'- 
try  to  find  out  all  that  his  words  must  mean,  even  if 
the  result  is  that  they  mean  what  he  did  not  mean ; 


MABCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


47 


and  if  we  find  this  contradiction,  it  is  not  our  fault,  but 
his  misfortune.  Noav  Antoninus  is  perhaps  somewhat 
in  this  condition  in  what  he  says  (x.  26),  though  he 
speaks  at  the  end  of  the  paragraph  of  the  power  which 
acts,  unseen  by  the  eyes,  but  still  no  less  clearly.  But 
whether  in  this  passage  (x.  26)  he  means  that  the  power 
is  conceived  to  be  in  the  different  successive  causes,  or 
in  something  else,  nobody  can  tell.  From  other  pas- 
sages, however,  I do  collect  that  his  notion  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  universe  is  what  I have  stated.  The 
deity  works  unseen,  if  we  may  use  such  language,  and 
perhaps  I may,  as  Job  did,  or  he  who  wrote  the  book 
of  Job.  “In  him  we  live  and  move  and  are,”  said  St. 
Paul  to  the  Athenians,  and  to  show  his  hearers  that 
this  was  no  new  doctrine,  he  quoted  the  Greek  poets. 
One  of  these  poets  was  the  Stoic  Cleanthes,  whose 
noble  hymn  to  Zeus  or  God  is  an  elevated  expression  of 
devotion  and  philosophy.  It  deprives  Nature  of  her 
power  and  puts  her  under  the  immediate  government  of 
the  deity. 

“ Thee  all  this  heaven,  which  whirls  around  the  earth, 

Obeys  and  willing  follows  v.'here  thou  leadest — 

Without  thee,  God,  nothing  is  done  on  earth. 

Nor  in  the  ethereal  realms,  nor  in  the  sea. 

Save  what  the  wicked  through  their  folly  do.” 

Antoninus’  conviction  of  the  existence  of  a divine 
power  and  government  was  founded  on  his  perception 
of  the  order  of  the  universe.  Like  Socrates  (Xen.  Mem. 
iv.  3,  13,  etc.),  he  says  that  though  we  cannot  see  the 
forms  of  divine  powers,  we  know  that  they  exist,  be- 
cause we  see  their  works. 

“ To  those  who  ask,  Where  hast  thou  seen  the  gods, 


48 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


or  how  dost  thou  comprehend  that  they  exist  and  so 
worshipest  them?  I answer,  in  the  first  place,  that 
they  may  be  seen  even  with  the  eyes ; in  the  second 
place,  neither  have  I seen  my  own  soul  and  yet  I honor 
it.  Thus,  then,  Avith  respect  to  the  gods,  from  what  I 
constantly  experience  of  their  poAver,  from  this  I com- 
prehend that  they  exist  and  I venerate  them  ” (xii.  28, 
and  the  note.  Comp.  Aristotle  de  Mundo,  c.  6 ; Xen. 
Mem.  i.  4,  9 ; Cicero,  Tuscul.  i.  28,  29 ; St.  Paul’s 
Epistle  to  the  Eomans,  i.  19,  20 ; and  Montaigne’s 
Apology  for  Raimond  de  Sebonde,  ii.  c.  12).  This  is  a 
very  old  argument  Avhich  has  ahvays  had  great  Aveight 
with  most  people  and  has  appeared  sufficient.  It  does 
not  acquire  the  least  additional  strength  by  being 
developed  in  a learned  treatise.  It  is  as  intelligible  in 
its  simple  enunciation  as  it  can  be  made.  If  it  is 
rejected,  there  is  no  arguing  Avith  him  Avho  rejects  it : 
and  if  it  is  Avorked  out  into  innumerable  particulars, 
the  value  of  the  evidence  runs  the  risk  of  being  buried 
under  a mass  of  Avords. 

Man  being  conscious  that  he  is  a spiritual  power,  or 
an  intellectual  poAver,  or  that  he  has  such  a power,  in 
whatever  Avay  he  conceives  that  he  has  it — for  I Avish 
simply  to  state  a fact — from  this  poAver  which  he  has 
in  himself,  he  is  led,  as  Antoninus  says,  to  believe  that 
there  is  a greater  poAver,  Avhich  as  the  old  Stoics  tell 
us,  pervades  the  whole  universe  as  the  intellect*  per- 
vades man.  (Compare  Epictetus’  Discourses,  i.  14 ; 
and  Voltaire  a Mad®.  Xecker,  vol.  Ixvii.  p.  278,  ed. 
Lequien.) 


*I  have  always  translated  the  word  vovi,  “intelligence”  or 
“intellect.”  It  appears  to  be  the  word  used  by  the  oldest  Greek 
philosophers  to  express  the  notion  of  “ intelligence  ” as  opposed  to 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


49 


God  exists  then,  but  what  do  we  know  of  his  N’ature  ? 
Antoninus  says  that  the  soul  of  man  is  an  efflux  from 
the  divinity.  We  have  bodies  like  animals,  but  we  have 
reason,  intelligence  as  the  gods.  Animals  have  life  and 
what  we  call  instincts  or  natural  principles  of  action, 
l)ut  the  rational  animal  man  alone  has  a rational,  intel- 
ligent soul,  Antoninus  insists  on  this  continually:  God 
is  in  man,*  and  so  we  must  constantly  attend  to  the 
the  notion  of  “matter.”  I have  always  translated  the  word  Ad^o? 
by  “reason,”  and  XoyiHoi  by  the  word  “ rational,”  or  perhaps  some- 
times “reasonable,”  as  I have  translated  roepoi  by  the  word  “intel- 
lectual.” Every  man  who  has  thought  and  who  has  read  any  philo- 
sophical writings  knows  the  difficulty  of  finding  words  to  express 
certain  notions,  how  imperfectly  words  express  these  notions,  and  how 
carelessly  the  words  are  often  used.  The  various  senses  of  the  word 
Aoyoi  are  enough  to  perplex  any  man.  Our  translators  of  the  New 
Testament  (St.  John,  c.  i.)  have  simply  translated  d Ad,ro5  by  “the 
word,”  as  the  Germans  translated  it  by  “das  Wort;”  but  in  their 
theological  writings  they  sometimes  retain  the  original  term  Logos. 
The  Germans  have  a term  Vernuuft,  which  seems  to  come  nearest  to 
our  word  Reason,  or  the  necessary  and  absolute  truths,  which  we 
cannot  conceive  as  being  other  than  what  they  are.  Such  are  what 
some  people  have  called  the  laws-of  thought,  the  conceptions  of  space 
and  of  time,  and  axioms  or  first  principles,  which  need  no  proof  and 
cannot  be  proved  or  denied.  Accordingly  the  Germans  can  say, 
“ Got  ist  die  hochste  Vernunft,”  the  Supreme  Reason.  The  Germans 
have  also  a word  Verstand,  which  seems  to  represent  our  word 
“ understanding,”  “intelligence,”  “ intellect,”  not  as  a thing  absolute 
which  exists  by  itself,  but  as  a thing  connected  with  an  individual 
being,  as  a man.  Accordingly  it  is  the  capacity  of  receiving  impres- 
sions (Vorstellungen,  q>avra6iai).  and  forming  from  them  distinct 
ideas  (Begriiie),  and  perceiyiug  differences.  I do  not  think  that  these 
remarks  will  help  the  reader  to  the  understanding  of  Antoninus,  or 
his  use  of  the  words  j'ouSand  A6yo%.  The  Emperor’s  meaning  must 
be  got  from  his  own  words,  and  if  it  does  not  agree  altogether  with 
modern  notions,  it  is  not  our  business  to  farce  it  into  agreement,  but 
simply  to  find  out  what  his  meaning  is,  if  we  can. 

* Comp.  Ep.  to  the  Corinthians,  i.  3,  17,  and  James  iv.  8,  “ Draw 
nigh  to  God  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.” 


50 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


divinity  within  us,  for  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  we  can 
have  any  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  God.  The  human 
soul  is  in  a sense  a portion  of  the  divinity,  and  the  soul 
alone  has  any  communication  with  the  Deity,  for  as  he 
says  (xii.  2):  “With  his  intellectual  part  alone  God 
touches  the  intelligence  only  which  has  flowed  and 
been  derived  from  himself  into  these  bodies.”  In  fact, 
he  says  that  which  is  hidden  within  a man  is  life — that 
is  the  man  himself.  All  the  rest  is  vesture,  covering, 
organs,  instrument,  which  the  living  man,  the  real* 
man,  uses  for  the  purpose  of  his  present  existence. 
The  air  is  universally  diffused  for  him  who  is  able  to 
respire,  and  so  for  him  who  is  willing  to  partake  of  it 

* This  is  also  Swedenborg’s  doctrine  of  the  soul.  “As  to  what 
concerns  the  soul,  of  which  it  is  said  that  it  shall  live  after  death,  it 
is  nothing  else  but  the  man  himself,  who  lives  in  the  body,  that  is, 
the  interior  man,  who  by  the  body  acts  in  the  world  and  from  whom 
the  body  itself  lives”  (quoted  by  Clissold,  p.  456  of  “The  Practical 
Nature  of  the  Theological  Writings  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  in  a 
Letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  (Whately),”  second  edition,  1859; 
a book  which  theologians  might  read  with  profit).  This  is  an  old 
doctrine  of  the  soul,  which  has  been  often  proclaimed,  but  never 
better  expressed  than  by  the  “ Auctor  de  Muiido,”  c.  6,  quoted  by 
Gataker  in  his  “Antoninus,”  p.  436.  “The  soul  by  which  we  live 
and  have  cities  and  houses  is  invisible,  but  it  is  seen  by  its  works;  for 
the  whole  method  of  life  has  been  devised  by  it  and  ordered,  and  by 
it  is  held  together.  In  like  manner  we  must  think  also  about  the 
deity,  who  in  power  is  most  mighty,  in  beauty  most  comely,  in  life 
immortal,  and  in  virtue  supreme;  wherefore  though  he  is  invisible  to 
human  nature,  he  is  seen  by  his  very  works.”  Other  passages  to  the 
same  purpose  are  quoted  by  Gataker  (p.  382).  Bishop  Butler  has  the 
same  as  to  the  soul;  “ Upon  the  whole  then  our  organs  of  sense  and 
our  limbs  are  certainly  instruments,  which  the  living  persons,  our- 
selves, make  use  of  to  perceive  and  move  with.”  If  this  is  not 
plain  enough,  he  also  says;  “ It  follows  that  our  organized  bodies 
are  no  more  ourselves,  or  part  of  ourselves,  than  any  other  matter 
around  us.”  (Compare  Anton,  x.  38.) 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  AMTONINUS. 


51 


the  intelligent  power,  which  holds  within  it  all  things, 
is  ditfused  as  wide  and  free  as  the  air  (viii.  64).  It  is 
by  living  a divine  life  that  man  approaches  to  a knowl- 
edge of  the  divinity.*  It  is  by  following  the  divinity 
within,  as  Antoninus  calls  it,  that  man  comes  nearest 
to  the  Deity,  the  supreme  good,  for  man  can  never 
attain  to  perfect  agreement  with  his  internal  guide. 
“ Live  with  the  gods.  And  he  does  live  with  the  gods 
who  constantly  shows  to  them  that  his  own  soul  is 
satisfied  with  that  which  is  assigned  to  him,  and  that 
it  does  all  the  demon  Avishes,  which  Zeus  hath  given  to 
every  man  for  his  guardian  and  guide,  a portion  of 
himself.  And  this  demon  is  evei’y  man’s  understanding 
and  reason”  (v.  27). 

There  is  in  man,  that  is  in  the  reason,  the  intelli- 
gence, a superior  faculty  Avhich  if  it  is  exercised  rules 
all  the  rest.  This  is  the  ruling  faculty  which  Cicero 
(De  Natura  Deorum,  ii.  11)  renders  by  the  Latin  word 
Principatus,  “ to  Avhich  nothing  can  or  ought  to  be 
superior.”  Antoninus  often  uses  this  term,  and  others 
which  are  equivalent.  He  names  it  (vii.  64)  “ the 
governing  intelligence.”  The  governing  faculty  is  the 
master  of  the  soul  (v.  26).  A man  must  reverence 

*Tlie  reader  may  consult  Discourse  V.  ‘Of  tlie  existence  and 
nature  of  God,”  in  John  Smith’s  “ Select  Discourses.”  He  has  prefixed 
as  a text  to  this  Discourse,  the  striking  passage  of  Agapetus,  Paraenes, 
§3:  “ He  who  knows  himself  will  know  God;  and  he  who  knows 
God  will  be  made  like  to  God;  and  he  will  be  made  like  to  God,  who 
has  become  worthy  of  God;  and  he  becomes  worthy  of  God,  who  does 
nothing  unworthy  of  God,  but  thinks  the  things  that  are  his,  and 
speaks  what  he  thinks,  and  does  what  he  speaks.”  I suppose  that 
the  old  saying,  “ Know  thyself,”  which  is  attributed  to  Socrates  and 
others,  had  a larger  meaning  than  the  narrow  sense  which  is  gener- 
ally given  to  it.  (Agapetus,  ed.  Stephan.  Schoning,  Franeker,  1608. 
This  volume  contains  also  the  Parseneses  of  Nilus.) 


52 


PHILOSOPHY  OP 


only  his  ruling  facultj^  and  the  divinity  within  him. 
As  we  must  reverence  that  which  is  supreme  in  the 
universe,  so  we  must  reverence  that  which  is  supreme 
in  ourselves,  and  this  is  that  which  is  of  like  kind  with 
tliat  which  is  supreme  in  the  universe  (v.  21).  So,  as 
riotinus  says,  the  soul  of  man  can  only  know  the 
divine,  so  far  as  it  knows  itself.  In  one  passage  (xi.  19) 
Antoninus  speaks  of  a man’s  condemnation  of  himself, 
Avhen  the  diviner  part  Avithin  him  has  been  over- 
poAvered  and  yields  to  the  less  honorable  and  to  the 
perishable  part,  the  body,  and  its  gross  pleasures.  In 
a Avord,  the  views  of  Antoninus  on  this  matter,  hoAV- 
ever  his  expressions  may  vary,  are  exactly  Avhat  Bishop 
Butler  expresses,  Avhen  he  speaks  of  “ the  natural 
supremacy  of  reflection  or  conscience,”  of  the  faculty 
“Avhich  surveys,  approves  or  disapproves  the  several 
affections  of  our  mind  and  actions  of  our  lives.” 

Much  matter  might  be  collected  from  Antoninus  on 
the  notion  of  the  Universe  being  one  animated  Being. 
But  all  that  he  says  amounts  to  no  more,  as  Schultz  re- 
marks, than  this : the  soul  of  man  is  most  intimately 
united  to  his  body,  and  together  they  make  one  animal, 
Avhiclr  we  call  man ; so  the  Deity  is  most  intimately 
united  to  the  Avorld  or  the  material  universe,  and 
together  they  form  one  Avhole.  But  Antoninus  did  not 
vicAv  God  and  the  material  universe  as  the  same,  any 
more  than  he  vicAved  the  body  and  soul  of  man  as  one. 
Antoninus  has  no  speculations  on  the  absolute  nature 
of  the  deity.  It  Avas  not  his  fashion  to  Avaste  his  time 
on  Avhat  man  cannot  understand.*  He  was  satisfied 
that  God  exists,  that  he  governs  all  things,  that  man 

^ “ God  is  infinitely  beyond  the  reach  of  our  narrow  capacities.” 
Locke  : Essay  concerning  the  Human  Understanding,  ii.  chap.  17. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


53 


can  only  have  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  his  nature, 
and  he  must  attain  this  imperfect  knowledge  by 
reverencing  the  divinity  which  is  within  him,  and 
keeping  it  pure. 

From  all  that  has  been  said  it  follows  that  the  uni- 
verse is  administered  by  the  Providence  of  God,  and 
that  all  things  are  wisely  ordered.  There  are  passages 
in  which  Antoninus  expresses  doubts,  or  states  different 
possible  theories  of  the  constitution  and  government  of 
the  Universe,  but  he  always  recurs  to  his  fundamental 
principle,  that  if  Ave  admit  the  existence  of  a deity,  Ave 
must  also  admit  that  he  orders  all  things  Avisely  and 
well  (iv.  27 ; vi.  1 ; ix.  28  ; xii.  5,  and  many  other  pas- 
sages). Epictetus  saA"S  (1.  6)  that  Ave  can  discern  the 
providence  Avhich  rules  the  AAmrld,  if  we  possess  two 
things,  the  poAver  of  seeing  all  that  happens  with 
respect  to  each  thing,  and  a grateful  disposition. 

But  if  all  things  are  Avisely  ordered,  Iioav  is  the 
world  so  full  of  Avhat  Ave  call  evil,  ph3^sical  and  moral? 
If,  instead  of  saying  that  there  is  evil  in  the  Avorld,  Ave 
use  the  expression  Avhich  I have  used,  “ Avhat  Ave  call 
evil,”  we  have  partl}”^  anticipated  the  emperor’s  ansAA^er. 
We  see  and  feel  and  know  imperfectly  very  feAV  things 
in  the  feAv  years  that  we  live,  and  all  the  knoAvledge 
and  all  the  experience  of  all  the  human  race  is  positive 
ignorance  of  the  Avhole,  which  is  infinite.  How  as  our 
reason  teaches  us  that  everything  is  in  some  way 
related  to  and  connected  Avith  every  other  thing,  all 
notion  of  oauI  as  being  in  the  universe  of  things  is  a 
contradiction,  tor  if  the  Avhole  comes  from  and  is 
gOA^erned  by  an  intelligent  being,  it  is  impossible  to 
conceive  anything  in  it  Avhich  tends  to  the  evil  or 
destruction  of  the  Avhole  (viii.  55 ; x.  6).  Everything 


54 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


is  in  constant  mutation,  and  yet  the  whole  subsists. 
We  might  imagine  the  solar  system  resolved  into  its 
elemental  parts,  and  yet  the  whole  would  still  subsist 
“ ever  young  and  perfect.” 

All  things,  all  forms,  are  dissolved  and  new  forms 
appear.  All  living  things  undergo  the  change  which 
we  call  death.  If  we  call  death  an  evil,  then  all 
change  is  an  evil.  Living  beings  also  suffer  pain,  and 
man  suffers  most  of  all,  for  he  suffers  both  in  and  by 
his  body  and  by  his  intelligent  part.  Men  suffer  also 
from  one  another,  and  ])erhaps  the  largest  part  of 
human  suffering  comes  to  man  from  those  whom  he 
calls  his  brothers.  Antoninus  says  (viii.  55),  “Gen- 
erally, wickedness  does  no  harm  at  all  to  the  universe  ; 
and  particularly,  the  wickedness  [of  one  man]  does 
no  harm  to  another.  It  is  only  harmful  to  him  who 
has  it  in  his  power  to  be  released  from  it  as  soon  as 
he  shall  choose.”  The  first  part  of  this  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  doctrine  that  the  whole  can  sus- 
tain no  evil  or  harm.  The  second  part  must  be 
explained  by  the  Stoic  principle  that  there  is  no  evil 
in  anything  which  is  not  in  our  power.  What  wrong 
we  suffer  from  another  is  his  evil,  not  ours.  But  this 
is  an  admission  that  there  is  evil  in  a sort,  for  he  who 
does  wrong  does  evil,  and  if  others  can  endure  the 
wrong,  still  there  is  evil  in  the  wrong  doer.  Anton- 
inus (xi.  18)  gives  many  excellent  precepts  with 
respect  to  wrongs  and  injuries,  and  his  precepts  are 
practical.  He  teaches  us  to  bear  what  we  cannot 
avoid,  and  his  lessons  may  be  just  as  useful  to  him 
who  denies  the  being  and  the  government  of  God  as 
to  him  who  believes  in  both.  There  is  no  direct 
answer  in  Antoninus  to  the  objections  which  may  be 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


55 


made  to  the  existence  and  providence  of  God  because 
of  the  moral  disorder  and  suffering  which  are  in  the 
world,  except  this  answer  which  he  makes  in  reply  to 
the  supposition  that  even  the  best  men  may  be  extin- 
guished by  death.  He  says  if  it  is  so,  we  may  be  sure 
that  if  it  ought  to  have  been  otherwise,  the  gods 
would  have  ordered  it  otherwise  (xii.  5).  His  convic- 
tion of  the  wisdom  which  we  may  observe  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  world  is  too  strong  to  be  disturbed  by 
any  apparent  irregularities  in  the  order  of  things. 
That  these  disorders  exist  is  a fact,  and  those  who 
would  conclude  from  them  against  the  being  and  gov- 
ernment of  God  conclude  too  hastily.  We  all  admit 
that  there  is  an  order  in  the  material  world,  a Hature, 
in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  has  been  explained,  a 
constitution,  what  we  call  a system,  a relation  of  parts 
to  one  another  and  a fitness  of  the  whole  for  some- 
thing. So  in  the  constitution  of  plants  and  of  animals 
there  is  an  order,  a fitness  for  some  end.  Sometimes 
the  order,  as  we  conceive  it,  is  interrupted,  and  the 
end,  as  we  conceive  it,  is  not  attained.  The  seed,  the 
plant  or  the  animal  sometimes  perishes  before  it  has 
passed  through  all  its  changes  and  done  all  its  uses. 
It  is  according  to  Hature,  that  is  a fixed  order,  for 
some  to  perish  earl}^  and  for  others  to  do  all  their  uses 
and  leave  successors  to  take  their  place.  So  man 
has  a corporeal  and  intellectual  and  moral  consti- 
tution fit  for  certain  uses,  and,  on  the  whole,  man 
performs  these  uses,  dies  and  leaves  other  men 
in  his  place.  So  society  exists,  and  a social  state 
is  manifestly  the  Hatural  State  of  man,  the  State 
for  which  his  Hature  fits  him ; and  society  amid 
innumerable  irregularities  and  disorders  still  sub- 
sists ; and  perhaps  we  may  say  that  the  history  of 


56 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


the  past  and  our  present  knowledge  give  us  a reason- 
able hope  that  its  disorders  will  diminish,  and  that 
order,  its  governing  principle,  may  be  more  firmly 
established.  As  order  then,  a fixed  order,  we  may 
say,  subject  to  deviations,  real  or  apparent,  must  be 
admitted  to  exist  in  the  whole  IS'ature  of  things,  that 
which  we  call  disorder  or  evil  as  it  seems  to  us,  does 
not  in  any  wmy  alter  the  fact  of  the  general  constitu- 
tion of  things  having  a Nature  or  fixed  order.  No- 
body will  conclude  from  the  existence  of  disorder  that 
order  is  not  the  rule,  for  the  existence  of  order  both 
physical  and  moral  is  proved  by  daily  experience  and 
all  past  experience.  We  cannot  conceive  how  the 
order  of  the  universe  is  maintained ; we  cannot  even 
conceive  how  our  own  life  from  day  to  day  is  con- 
tinued, nor  how  we  perform  the  simplest  movements 
of  the  body,  nor  how  we  grow  and  think  and  act, 
though  we  know  many  of  the  conditions  which  are 
necessary  for  all  these  functions.  Knowing  nothing, 
then,  of  the  unseen  power  which  acts  in  ourselves 
except  by  what  is  done,  we  know  nothing  of  the 
power  which  acts  through  what  we  call  all  time  and 
all  space ; but  seeing  that  there  is  a nature  or  fixed 
order  in  all  things  known  to  us,  it  is  conformable 
to  the  nature  of  our  minds  to  believe  that  this  uni- 
versal Nature  has  a cause  which  operates  continually, 
and  that  we  are  totally  unalfie  to  speculate  on  the 
reason  of  any  of  those  disorders  or  evils  w^hich  we 
perceive.  This  I believe  is  the  answer  which  may  be 
collected  from  all  that  Antoninus  has  said.* 

* Clean  tiles  says  in  his  hymn: 

“ For  all  things  good  and  bad  to  One  thou  fonnest, 

So  that  One  everlasting  reason  governs  all.” 

See  Bishop  Butler’s  Sermons.  Sermon  XV.  “ Upon  the  Ignorance 
ol  Man.” 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


57 


The  origin  of  evil  is  an  old  question.  Achilles  tells 
Priam  (Ihad,  24,  527)  that  Zeus  has  two  casks,  one 
filled  with  good  things  and  the  other  with  bad,  and 
that  he  gives  to  men  out  of  each  according  to  his 
pleasure;  and  so  we  must  be  content,  for  we  cannot 
alter  the  will  of  Zeus.  One  of  the  Greek  commenta- 
tors asks  how  must  we  reconcile  this  doctrine  with 
what  we  find  in  the  first  book  of  the  Odyssey,  where 
the  king  of  the  gods  says,  Men  say  that  evil  comes  to 
them  from  us,  but  they  bring  it  on  themselves  through 
their  own  folly.  The  answer  is  plain  enough,  even  to 
the  Greek  commentator.  The  poets  make  both  Achilles 
and  Zeus  speak  appropriately  to  their  several  charac- 
ters. Indeed,  Zeus  says  plainly  that  men  do  attribute 
their  sufferings  to  the  gods,  but  they  do  it  falsely,  for 
they  are  the  cause  of  their  own  sorrows. 

Epictetus,  in  his  Encheiridion  (c.  27),  makes  short  work 
of  the  question  of  evil.  He  sa}^s;  “As  a mark  is  not 
set  up  for  the  purpose  of  missing  it,  so  neither  does  the 
nature  of  evil  exist  in  the  Universe.”  This  will  appear 
obscure  enough  to  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with 
Epictetus,  but  he  ahvays  knoAvs  Avhat  he  is  talking 
about.  We  do  not  set  up  a mark  in  order  to  miss  it, 
though  we  may  miss  it.  God,  whose  existence  Epic- 
tetus assumes,  has  not  ordered  all  things  so  that  his 
purpose  shall  fail.  Whatever  there  may  be  of  Avhat 
we  call  evil,  the  Hature  of  evdl,  as  he  expresses  it,  does 
not  exist — that  is,  evil  is  not  a part  of  the  constitution 
or  nature  of  Things.  If  there  were  a principle  of  eA^il 
in  the  constitution  of  things,  evil  would  no  longer  be 
evil,  as  Simplicius  argues,  but  evil  would  be  good. 
Simplicius  (c.  34,  [27])  has  a long  and  curious  dis- 
course on  this  text  of  Epictetus,  and  it  is  amusing 
and  instructive. 


58 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


One  passage  more  will  conclude  this  matter.  It 
contains  all  that  the  emperor  could  say  (ii.  11):  “To 
go  from  among  men,  if  there  are  gods,  is  not  a thing 
to  be  afraid  of,  for  the  gods  will  not  involve  thee  in 
evil ; but  if  indeed  they  do  not  exist,  or  if  they  have  no 
concern  about  human  affairs,  what  is  it  to  me  to  live  in 
a universe  devoid  of  gods  or  devoid  of  providence? 
Hut  in  truth  they  do  exist,  and  they  do  care  for  human 
things,  and  they  have  put  all  the  means  in  man’s  power 
to  enable  him  not  to  fall  into  real  evils.  And  as  to  the 
rest,  if  there  was  anything  evil  they  would  have  pro- 
vided for  this  also,  that  it  should  be  altogether  in  a 
man’s  power  not  to  fall  into  it.  But  that  which  does 
not  make  a man  worse,  how  can  it  make  a man’s  life 
worse  ? But  neither  through  ignorance,  nor  having 
the  knowledge,  but  not  the  power  to  guai’d  against  or 
correct  these  things,  is  it  possible  that  the  nature  of 
the  Universe  has  overlooked  them ; nor  is  it  possible 
that  it  has  made  so  great  a mistake,  either  through 
want  of  power  or  want  of  skill,  that  good  and  evil 
should  happen  indiscriminately  to  the  good  and  the 
bad.  But  death  certainly  and  life,  honor  and  dishonor, 
pain  and  pleasure — all  these  things  equally  happen  to 
good  and  bad  men,  being  things  which  make  us  neither 
better  nor  worse.  Therefore  they  are  neither  good  nor 
evil.” 

The  Ethical  part  of  Antoninus’  Philosophy  follows 
from  his  general  principles.  The  end  of  all  his  philosophy 
is  to  live  comformably  to  Nature,  both  a man’s  OAvn 
nature  and  the  nature  of  the  UnNerse.  Bishop  Butler 
has  explained  Avhat  the  Greek  philosophers  meant  when 
they  spoke  of  living  according  to  Nature,  and  he  says 
that  when  it  is  explained,  as  he  has  explained  it  and  as 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


59 


they  understood  it,  it  is  “a  manner  of  speaking  not 
loose  and  undeterminate,  but  clear  and  distinct,  strictly 
just  and  true.”  To  live  according  to  Nature  is  to  live 
according  to  a man’s  whole  nature,  not  according  to  a 
part  of  it)  and  to  reverence  the  divinity  within  him  as 
the  governor  of  all  his  actions.  “To  the  rational 
animal  the  same  act  is  according  to  nature  and  accord- 
ing to  reason”*  (vii.  11).  That  which  is  done  contrary 
to  reason  is  also  an  act  contrary  to  nature,  to  the  whole 
nature,  though  it  is  certainly  comformable  to  some  part 
of  man’s  nature,  or  it  could  not  be  done.  Man  is  made 
for  action,  not  for  idleness  or  pleasure.  As  plants  and 
animals  do  the  uses  of  their  nature,  so  man  must  do  his 
(v.  1). 

Man  must  also  live  comformably  to  the  universal 
nature,  comformably  to  the  nature  of  all  things  of  which 
he  is  one;  and  as  a citizen  of  a political  community  he 
must  direct  his  life  and  actions  with  reference  to  those 
among  whom,  and  for  whom,  among  other  purposes, 
he  lives.f  A man  must  not  retire  into  solitude  and 
cut  himself  off  from  his  fellow  men.  He  must  be 
ever  active  to  do  his  part  in  the  great  whole.  All 
men  are  his  kin,  not  only  in  blood  but  still  more  by 
participating  in  the  same  intelligence  and  by  being  a 
portion  of  the  same  divinity.  A man  cannot  really  be 
injured  by  his  brethren,  for  no  act  of  theirs  can  make 
him  bad,  and  he  must  not  be  angry  with  them  nor 
hate  them:  “For  we  are  made  for  co-operation,  like 
feet,  like  hands,  like  eyelids,  like  the  rows  of  the  upper 
and  lower  teeth.  To  act  against  one  another  then  is 

* This  is  what  Juvenal  means  when  he  says  (xiv.  321) — 
Nunquam  aliud  Xatura  aliud  Sapientia  dicit. 

f See  viii.  52;  and  Persius  iii.  66. 


60 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


contrary  to  nature ; and  it  is  acting  against  one  another 
to  be  vexed  and  to  turn  away  ” (ii.  1). 

Further  he  says : “ Take  pleasure  in  one  thing  and 
rest  in  it,  in  passing  from  one  social  act  to  another 
social  act,  thinking  of  God  ” (vi.  7).  Again : “ Love 
mankind.  Follow  God  ” (vii.  31).  It  is  the  charac- 
teristic of  the  rational  soul  for  a man  to  love  his  neigh- 
bor (xi.  1).  Antoninus  teaches  in  various  passages 
the  forgiveness  of  injuries,  and  we  know  that  he  also 
practiced  what  he  taught.  Bishop  Butler  remarks 
that  “ this  divine  precept  to  forgive  injuries  and  to 
love  our  enemies,  though  to  be  met  with  in  Gentile 
moralists,  yet  is  in  a peculiar  sense  a precept  of 
Christianity,  as  our  Saviour  has  insisted  more  upon  it 
than  on  any  other  single  virtue.”  The  practice  of  this 
prece])t  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  virtues.  Antoninus 
often  enforces  it  and  gives  us  aid  toward  following  it. 
When  we  are  injured,  we  feel  anger  and  resentment, 
and  the  feeling  is  natural,  just  and  useful  for  the  con- 
servation of  society.  It  is  useful  that  wrong  doers 
should  feel  the  natural  consequences  of  their  actions, 
among  which  is  the  disapprobation  of  society  and  the 
resentment  of  him  who  is  wronged.  But  revenge,  in 
the  proper  sense  of  that  word,  must  not  be  practiced. 
“ The  best  way  of  avenging  thyself,”  says  the  emperor, 
“ is  not  to  become  like  the  wrong  doer.”  It  is  plain  by 
this  that  he  does  not  mean  that  we  should  in  any  case 
practice  revenge;  but  he  says  to  those  who  talk  of 
revenging  wrongs.  Be  not  like  him  who  has  done  the 
wrong.  Socrates  in  the  Crito  (c.  10)  says  the  same  in 
other  words,  and  St.  Paul  (Ep.  to  the  Eomans,  xii.  17). 
“ AYhen  a man  has  done  thee  any  wrong,  immediately 
consider  with  what  opinion  about  good  or  evil  he  has 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


61 


done  wrong.  For  when  thou  hast  seen  this,  thou  wilt 
pity  him  and  wilt  neither  wonder  nor  be  an^ry  ” 
(vii.  26).  Antoninus  would  not  deny  that  wrong  natu- 
rally produces  the  feeling  of  anger  and  resentment,  for 
this  is  implied  in  the  recommendation  to  reflect  on  the 
nature  of  the  man’s  mind  who  has  done  the  wrong, 
and  then  you  will  have  pity  instead  of  resentment ; and 
so  it  comes  to  the  same  as  St.  Paul’s  advice  to  be  angry 
and  sin  not ; which,  as  Butler  well  ex})lains  it,  is  not  a 
recommendation  to  be  angry,  which  nobody  needs,  for 
anger  is  a natural  passion,  but  it  is  a warning  against 
allowing  anger  to  lead  us  into  sin.  In  short  the 
emperor’s  doctrine  about  wrongful  acts  is  this  : wrong 
doers  do  not  know  what  good  and  bad  are ; they  offend 
out  of  ignorance,  and  in  the  sense  of  the  Stoics  this  is 
true.  Though  this  kind  of  ignorance  will  never  be 
admitted  as  a legal  excuse,  and  ought  not  to  be 
admitted  as  a full  excuse  in  any  way  by  society,  there 
may  be  grievous  injuries,  such  as  it  is  in  a man’s  power 
to  forgive  without  harm  to  society ; and  if  he  forgives 
because  he  sees  that  his  enemies  know  not  what  they 
do,  he  is  acting  in  the  spirit  of  the  sublime  prayer, 
“Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do.” 

The  emperor’s  moral  philosophy  was  not  a feeble, 
narrow  system,  which  teaches  a man  to  look  directly 
to  his  own  happiness,  though  a man’s  happiness  or 
tranquillity  is  indirectly  promoted  by  living  as  he  ought 
to  do.  A man  must  live  conformably  to  the  universal 
nature,  which  means,  as  the  emperor  explains  it  in 
many  passages,  that  a man’s  actions  must  be  conform- 
able to  his  true  relations  to  all  other  human  beings, 
both  as  a citizen  of  a political  cominunity  and  as  a 


62 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


member  of  the  whole  human  family.  This  implies, 
and  he  often  expresses  it  in  the  most  forcible  language, 
that  a man’s  words  and  actions,  so  far  as  they  affect 
others,  must  be  measured  by  a fixed  rule,  which  in 
their  consistency  with  the  conservation  and  the 
interests  of  the  particular  society  of  which  he  is  a 
member,  and  of  the  whole  human  race.  To  live  com- 
formably  to  such  a rule,  a man  must  use  his  rational 
faculties  in  order  to  discern  clearly  the  consequences 
and  full  effect  of  all  his  actions  and  of  the  actions  of 
others ; he  must  not  live  a life  of  contemplation  and 
reflection  only,  though  he  must  often  retire  within 
himself  to  calm  and  purify  his  soul  by  thought,*  but 
he  must  mingle  in  the  work  of  man  and  be  a fellow- 
laborer  for  the  general  good. 

A man  should  have  an  object  or  purpose  in  life,  that 
he  may  direct  all  his  energies  to  it;  of  course  a good 
object  (ii.  7).  He  who  has  not  one  object  or  purpose 
of  life,  cannot  be  one  and  the  same  all  through  his  life 
(xi.  21).  Bacon  has  a remark  to  the  same  effect,  on 
the  best  means  of  “ reducing  of  the  mind  unto  virtue 
and  good  estate;  which  is  the  electing  and  propound- 
ing unto  a man’s  self  good  and  virtuous  ends  of  his  life, 
such  as  may  be  in  a reasonable  sort  within  his  compass 
to  attain.”  He  is  a happy  man  who  has  been  wise 
enough  to  do  this  when  he  was  young  and  has  had  the 
opportunities;  but  the  emperor  seeing  well  that  a man 
cannot  always  be  so  wise  in  his  youth,  encourages  him- 
self to  do  it  when  he  can,  and  not  to  let  life  slip  away 
before  he  has  begun.  He  who  can  propose  to  himself 
good  and  virtuous  ends  of  life,  and  be  true  to  them, 
cannot  fail  to  live  comformably  to  his  own  interest  and 


* Ut  nemo  in  sese  tentat  descendere,  nemo. — Pcrsius,  iv.  31. 


MARCUS  A UEELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


63 


the  universal  interest,  for  in  the  nature  of  things  they 
are  one.  If  a thing  is  not  good  for  the  hive,  it  is  not 
good  for  the  bee  (vi.  54). 

One  passage  may  end  this -matter.  “ If  the  gods  have 
determined  about  me  and  about  the  things  which  must 
happen  to  me,  they  have  determined  well,  for  it  is  not 
easy  even  to  imagine  a deity  without  forethought;  and 
as  to  doing  me  harm,  why  should  they  have  any  desire 
toward  that?  For  what  advantage  woidd  result  to 
them  from  this  or  to  the  whole,  which  is  the  special 
object  of  their  providence?  But  if  they  have  not  de- 
termined about  me  individually,  they  have  certainly 
determined  about  the  whole  at  least ; and  the  things 
which  happen  by  way  of  sequence  in  this  general 
arrangement  I ought  to  accept  with  pleasure  and  to  be 
content  with  them.  But  if  they  determine  about 
nothing — which  it  is  wicked  to  believe,  or  if  we  do 
believe  it,  let  us  neither  sacrifice  nor  pray  nor  swear 
by  them,  nor  do  anything  else  which  we  do  as  if  the 
gods  were  present  and  lived  with  us — but  if,  however, 
the  gods  determine  about  none  of  the  things  which  con- 
cern  us,  I am  able  to  determine  about  myself,  and  I can 
inquire  about  that  which  is  useful ; and  that  is  useful  to 
every  man  which  is  conformable  to  his  own  constitution 
and  nature.  But  my  nature  is  rational  and  social ; and 
my  city  and  country,  so  far  as  I am  Antoninus,  is  Rome ; 
but  so  far  as  I am  a man,  it  is  the  world.  The  things 
then  which  are  useful  to  these  cities  are  alone  useful 
to  me”  (vi.  44). 

It  would  be  tedious,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  state 
the  emperor’s  opinions  on  all  the  ways  in  which  a man 
may  profitably  use  his  understanding  toward  perfect- 
ing himself  in  practical  virtue.  The  passages  to  this 


G4 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


]inrpose  are  in  all  parts  of  his  book,  but  as  they  are  in 
no  order  or  connection,  a man  must  use  the  book  a 
long  time  before  he  will  find  out  all  that  is  in  it.  A 
few  words  may  be  added  here.  If  we  analyze  all  other 
tljings,  we  find  how  insufficient  thej^  are  for  human  life 
and  hoAV  truly  worthless  many  of  them  are.  Virtue 
alone  is  indivisible,  one,  and  perfectly  satisfying.  The 
notion  of  Virtue  cannot  be  considered  vague  or  un- 
settled, because  a man  may  find  it  difficult  to  explain 
the  notion  fully  to  himself  or  to  expound  it  to  others 
in  such  a Avay  as  to  ]>revent  cavilling.  Virtue  is  a 
Avhole,and  no  more  consists  of  parts  than  man’s  intelli- 
gence does ; and  yet  we  speak  of  A'ai'ious  intellectual 
faculties  as  a convenient  way  of  expressing  the  various 
powers  Avhich  man’s  intellect  shows  by  his  Avorks.  In 
the  same  Avay  we  may  speak  of  various  virtues  or  parts 
of  virtue,  in  a practical  sense,  for  the  purpose  of  shoAV- 
ing  Avhat  particular  virtues  Ave  ought  to  practice  in 
order  to  the  exercise  of  the  Avhole  of  virtue — that  is,  as 
much  as  man’s  nature  is  capable  of. 

The  prime  principle  in  man’s  constitution  is  social. 
The  next  in  order  is  not  to  yield  to  the  persuasions  of 
the  body  when  they  are  not  conformable  to  the  rational 
principle,  Avhich  must  govern.  The  third  is  freedom 
from  error  and  from  deception.  “ Let  then  the  ruling 
jirinciple  holding  fast  to  these  things  go  straight  on, 
and  it  has  what  is  its  OAAm”  (Aui.  55).  The  emperor 
selects  justice  as  the  virtue  Avhich  is  the  basis  of  all 
the  rest  (x.  11),  and  this  had  been  said  long  before  his 
time. 

It  is  true  that  all  people  have  some  notion  of  Avhat  is 
meant  by  justice  as  a disposition  of  the  mind,  and  some 
notion  about  acting  in  conformity  to  this  disposition; 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


65 


but  experience  shows  that  men’s  notions  about  justice 
are  as  confused  as  their  actions  are  inconsistent  with 
the  true  notion  of  justice.  The  emperor’s  notion  of 
justice  is  clear  enough,  but  not  practical  enough  for  all 
mankind.  “ Let  there  be  freedom  from  perturbations 
with  respect  to  the  things  which  come  from  the  exter- 
nal cause,  and  let  there  be  justice  in  the  things  done  by 
virtue  of  the  internal  cause — that  is,  let  there  be  move- 
ment and  action  terminating  in  this,  in  social  acts,  for 
this  is  according  to  thy  nature”  (ix.  31).  In  another 
place  (ix.  1)  he  says  that  “he  who  acts  unjustly  acts 
impiousl}^”  which  follows  of  course  from  all  that  he 
says  in  various  places.  He  insists  on  the  practice  of 
truth  as  a virtue  and  as  a means  to  virtue,  which  no 
doubt  it  is:  for  lying,  even  in  indifferent  things, 
weakens  the  understanding,  and  lying  maliciously  is 
as  great  a moral  offense  as  a man  can  be  guilty  of, 
viewed  both  as  showing  an  habitual  disposition  and 
viewed  with  respect  to  consequences.  He  couples  the 
notion  of  justice  with  action.  A man  must  not  pride 
himself  on  having  some  fine  notion  of  justice  in  his 
head,  but  he  must  exhibit  his  justice  in  act,  like  St. 
James’  notion  of  faith.  But  this  is  enough. 

The  Stoics  and  Antoninus  among  them  call  some 
things  beautiful  and  some  ugly,  and  as  the}'"  are  beauti- 
ful so  they  are  good,  and  as  they  are  ugly  so  they  are 
evil  or  bad  (ii.  1).  All  these  things  good  and  evil  are 
in  our  power,  absolutely  some  of  the  stricter  Stoics 
would  say ; in  a manner  only,  as  those  who  would  not 
depart  altogether  from  common  sense  would  say ; prac- 
tically they  are  to  a great  degree  in  the  power  of  some 
persons  and  in  some  circumstances,  but  in  a small 
degree  only  in  other  persons  and  in  other  circum- 


66 


PHILOSOPHY  OP 


stances.  The  8toics  maintain  man’s  free  will  as  to  the 
things  which  are  in  his  power;  for  as  to  the  things 
which  are  out  of  his  power,  free  will  terminating  in 
very  action  is  of  course  excluded  by  tlie  terms  of  the 
expression.  I hardly  know  if  we  can  discover  exactly 
Antoninus’  notion  of  the  free  will  of  man,  nor  is  the 
question  worth  the  inquiiy.  What  he  does  mean  and 
does  say  is  intelligible.  All  the  things  which  are  not 
in  our  power  are  indifferent : they  are  neither  good 
nor  bad  morally.  Such  are  life,  health,  wealth,  power, 
disease,  poverty  and  death.  Life  and  death  are  all 
men’s  portion.  Health,  wealth,  power,  disease  and 
poverty  happen  to  men  indifferently  to  the  good  and 
to  the  bad ; to  those  who  live  according  to  nature  and 
to  those  who  do  not.*  “Life,”  says  the  emperor,  “is 
a warfare  and  a stranger’s  sojourn,  and  after  fame  is 
oblivion”  (ii.  17).  After  speaking  of  those  men  who 
have  disturbed  the  world  and  then  died,  and  of  the 
death  of  philosophers  such  as  Heraclitus  and  Democri- 
tus, who  was  destroyed  by  lice,  and  of  Socrates,  whom 
other  lice  (his  enemies)  destroyed,  he  says:  “What 
means  all  this?  Thou  hast  embarked,  thou  hast  made 
the  voyage,  thou  art  come  to  shore ; get  out.  If 
indeed  to  another  life,  there  is  no  want  of  gods,  not 
even  there.  But  if  to  a state  without  sensation,  thou 
wilt  cease  to  be  held  by  pains  and  pleasures,  and  to  be 
a slave  to  the  vessel  which  is  as  much  inferior  as  that 

* “-All  events  come  alike  to  all;  there  is  one  event  to  the  righteous 
and  to  the  wicked;  to  the  good  and  to  the  clean  and  to  the  unclean,” 
etc.  Ecclesiastes,  ix.  v.  2;  and  v.  3;  “This  is  an  evil  among  all 
things  that  are  done  under  the  sun,  that  there  is  one  event  unto  all.  ” 
In  what  sense  “evil  ” is  meant  here  seems  rather  doubtful.  There  is 
no  doubt  about  the  Emperor’s  meaning.  Compare  Epictetus,  Encheiri- 
dion,  c.  i.,  etc.;  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Brachmans  (Strabo,  p.  713, 
ed.  Cas.). 


MARCUS  A URELtUS  ANTONINUS.  6? 

which  serves  it  is  superior ; for  the  one  is  intelligence 
and  deity ; the  other  is  earth  and  corruption  ” (iii.  3). 
It  is  not  death  that  a man  should  fear,  but  he  should 
fear  never  beginning  to  live  according  to  nature 
(xii.  1).  Every  man  should  live  in  such  a way  as 
to  discharge  his  duty,  and  to  trouble  himself  about 
nothing  else.  He  should  live  such  a life  that  he 
shall  always  be  ready  for  death,  and  shall  depart 
content  when  the  summons  comes.  For  what  is 
death  ? “ A cessation  of  the  impressions  through  the 

senses,  and  of  the  pulling  of  the  strings  which  move 
the  appetites  and  of  the  discursive  movements  of  the 
thoughts,  and  of  the  service  to  the  flesh (vi.  28). 
Death  is  such  as  generation  is,  a mystery  of  nature 
(iv.  5).  In  another  passage,  the  exact  meaning  of 
which  is  perhaps  doubtful  (ix.  3),  he  speaks  of  the  child 
which  leaves  the  womb,  and  so  he  says  the  soul  at 
death  leaves  its  envelope.  As  the  child  is  born  or 
comes  into  life  by  leaving  the  womb,  so  the  soul  may 
on  leaving  the  body  pass  into  another  existence  which 
is  perfect.  I am  not  sure  if  this  is  the  emperor’s 
meaning.  Butler  compares  it  with  a passage  in  Strabo 
(p.  713)  about  the  Brachmans’  notion  of  death  being 
the  birth  into  real  life  and  a happy  life  to  those  who 
have  philosophized;  and  he  thinks  that  Antoninus 
may  allude  to  this  opinion.* 

* Seneca  (Ep.  102)  lias  the  same,  whether  an  expression  of  his 
own  opinion,  or  merely  a fine  saying  of  others  employed  to  embellish 
his  writings,  I know  not.  After  speaking  of  the  child  being  prepared 
in  the  womb  to  live  this  life,  he  adds,  “ Sic  per  hoc  spatium,  quod  ah 
infantia  patet  in  senectutem,  in  alium  naturae  sumimur  partum.  Alia 
origo  nos  expectat,  alius  rerum  status.”  See  Ecclesiastes,  xii.  7;  and 
Lucan,  i.  457: 

“Longae,  canitis  si  cognita,  vitae 
Mors  media  est.” 


68 


PHILOSOPHY  OF 


Antoninus’  opinion  of  a future  life  is  nowhere  clearly 
expressed.  Ilis  doctrine  of  the  nature  of  the  soul  of 
necessity  implies  that  it  does  not  perish  absolutely,  for 
a portion  of  the  divinity  cannot  perish.  The  opinion 
is  at  least  as  old  as  the  time  of  Epicharmus  and  Euri- 
pides ; what  comes  from  earth  goes  back  to  earth,  and 
what  comes  from  heaven,  the  divinity,  returns  to  him 
who  gave  it.  But  I find  nothing  clear  in  Antoninus 
as  to  the  notion  of  the  man  existing  after  death  so  as 
to  be  conscious  of  his  sameness  with  that  soul  which 
occupied  his  vessel  of  clay.  He  seems  to  be  perplexed 
on  this  matter,  and  finally  to  have  rested  in  this,  that 
God  or  the  gods  will  do  whatever  is  best  and  consist- 
ent with  the  university  of  things. 

Nor,  I think,  does  he  speak  conclusively  on  another 
Stoic  doctrine,  which  some  Stoics  practiced,  the  antici- 
pating the  regular  course  of  nature  by  a man’s  own 
act.  The  reader  will  find  some  passages  in  which  this 
is  touched  on,  and  he  may  make  of  them  what  he  can. 
But  there  are  passages  in  which  the  emperor  encour- 
ages himself  to  wait  for  the  end  patiently  and  with 
tranquillity ; and  certainly  it  is  consistent  with  all  his 
best  teaching  that  a man  should  bear  all  that  falls  to 
his  lot  and  do  useful  acts  as  long  as  he  lives.  He 
should  not,  therefore,  abridge  the  time  of  his  useful- 
ness by  his  own  act.  Whether  he  contemplates  any 
possible  cases  in  which  a man  should  die  by  his  own 
hand,  I cannot  tell,  and  the  matter  is  not  worth  a 
curious  inquiry,  for  I believe  it  would  not  lead  to  any 
certain  result  as  to  his  opinion  on  this  point  I do  not 
think  that  Antoninus,  who  never  mentions  Seneca, 
though  he  must  have  known  all  about  him,  would  have 
agreed  with  Seneca  when  he  gives  as  a reason  for 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


69 


suicide,  that  the  eternal  law,  whatever  he  means,  has 
made  nothing  better  for  us  than  this,  that  it  has  given 
us  only  one  way  of  entering  into  life  and  many  ways 
of  going  out  of  it.  The  ways  of  going  out  indeed  are 
many,  and  that  is  a good  reason  for  a man  taking  care 
of  himself.* 

Happiness  was  not  the  direct  object  of  a Stoic’s  life. 
There  is  no  rule  of  life  contained  in  the  precept  that  a 
man  should  pursue  his  own  happiness.  Many  men 
think  that  they  are  seeking  happiness  when  they  are 
only  seeking  the  gratification  of  some  particular  pas- 
sion, the  strongest  that  they  have.  The  end  of  a man 
is,  as  already  explained,  to  live  conformably  to  nature, 
and  he  will  thus  obtain  happiness,  tranquillity  of  mind 
and  contentment  (iii.  12;  viii.  1,  and  other  places).  As 
a means  of  living  conformably  to  nature  he  must  study 
the  four  chief  virtues,  each  of  which  has  its  proper 
sphere : wisdom,  or  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil ; 
justice,  or  the  giving  to  every unan  his  due;  fortitude, 
or  the  enduring  of  labor  and  pain ; and  temperance, 
which  is  moderation  in  all  things.  By  thus  living  con- 
formably to  nature  the  Stoic  obtained  all  that  he 
wished  or  expected.  His  reward  was  in  his  virtuous 
life,  and  he  was  satisfied  with  that.  Some  Greek  poet 
long  ago  wrote : 

O O 

For  virtue  only  of  all  human  things 

Takes  her  reward  not  from  the  hands  of  others. 

Virtue  herself  rewards  the  toils  of  virtue. 

Some  of  the  Stoics  indeed  expressed  themselves  in 
very  arrogant,  absurd  terms,  about  the  wise  man’s  self 

*See  Plinius,  H.  N.  ii.  c.  7;  Seneca,  De  Provid.  c.  6;  and  Ep.  70; 
“Nihil  melius  aeterna  lex,”  etc. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  MARCtlS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 

sufficiency ; they  elevated  him  to  the  rank  of  a deity.* 
But  these  were  only  talkers  and  lecturers,  such  as  those 
in  all  ages  who  utter  fine  words,  know  little  of  human 
affairs,  and  care  only  for  notoriety.  Epictetus  and 
Antoninus  both  by  precept  and  example  labored  to 
improve  themselves  and  others ; and  if  we  discover 
imperfections  in  their  teaching,  we  must  still  honor 
these  great  men  who  attempted  to  show  that  there  is 
in  man’s  nature  and  in  the  constitution  of  things 
sufficient  reason  for  living  a virtuous  life.  It  is  diffi- 
cult enough  to  live  as  we  ought  to  live,  difficult  even 
for  any  man  to  live  in  such  a way  as  to  satisfy  himself, 
if  he  exercises  only  in  a moderate  degree  the  power  of 
reflecting  upon  and  reviewing  his  own  conduct ; and  if 
all  men  cannot  be  brought  to  the  same  opinions  in 
morals  and  religion,  it  is  at  least  worth  while  to  give 
them  good  reasons  for  as  much  as  they  can  be  per- 
suaded to  accept. 

* J.  Smith  in  his  Select  Discourses  on  “ the  Excellency  and  Noble- 
ness of  True  Religion  ” (c.  vi.)has  remarked  on  this  Stoical  arrogance. 
He  finds  it  in  Seneca  and  others.  In  Seneca  certainly,  and  perhaps 
something  of  it  in  Epictetus;  but  it  is  not  in  Antoninus. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS 


FROM 

‘SEEKERS  AFTER  GOD, 


BY 


Eev.  F.  W.  FAEEAE,  D.D.,  F.E.S., 

Canon  of  Westminster. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  AN  EMPEEOR. 

The  life  of  the  noblest  of  Pagan  Emperors  may  well 
follow  that  of  the  noblest  of  Pagan  slaves.  Their  g/ory 
shines  the  purer  and  brighter  from  the  midst  ot  a cor- 
rupt and  deplorable  society.  Epictetus  showed  that  a 
Phrygian  slave  could  live  a life  of  the  loftiest  exalta- 
tion; Aurelius  proved  that  a Roman  Emperor  could 
live  a life  of  the  deepest  humility.  The  one — a for- 
eigner, feeble,  deformed,  ignorant,  boim  in  squalor,  bred 
in  degradation,  the  despised  chattel  of  a despicable 
freedman,  surrounded  by  every  depressing,  ignoble, 
and  pitiable  circumstance  of  life  — showed  how  one 
who  seemed  born  to  be  a wretch  could  win  noble  hap- 
piness and  immortal  memory ; the  other — a Roman, 
a patrician,  strong,  of  heavenly  beauty,  of  noble  ances- 
tors, almost  born  to  the  purple,  the  favorite  of  Emper- 
ors, the  greatest  conqueror,  the  greatest  philosopher, 
the  greatest  ruler  of  his  time — proved  forever  that  it 
is  possible  to  be  virtuous,  and  tender,  and  holjq  and 
contented  in  the  midst  of  sadness,  even  on  an  irrespon- 
sible and  imperial  throne.  Strange  that,  of  the  two, 
the  Emperor  is  even  sweeter,  more  simple,  more  ad- 


74 


ESSAY  OiV  MAMCUS  AURELIUS. 


mirable,  more  humbly  and  touchingly  resigned,  than 
the  slave.  In  him,  Stoicism  loses  all  its  haughty  self- 
assertion,  all  its  impracticable  paradox,  for  a manly 
melancholy  which  at  once  troubles  and  charms  the 
heart.  “ It  seems,”  says  M.  Martha,  “ that  in  him  the 
philosophy  of  heathendom  grows  less  proud,  draws 
nearer  and  nearer  to  a Christianity  which  it  ignored  or 
which  it  despised,  and  is  ready  to  fling  itself  into  the 
arms  of  the  ‘Unknown  God.’  In  the  sad  Meditations 
of  Aurelius  we  And  a pure  serenity,  sweetness,  and 
docility  to  the  commands  of  God,  which  before  him 
were  unknown,  and  which  Christian  grace  has  alone 
surpassed.  If  he  has  not  yet  attained  to  charity  in  all 
that  fullness  of  meaning  which  Christianity  has  given  to 
the  word,  he  has  already  gained  its  unction,  and  one 
cannot  read  his  book,  unique  in  the  history  of  Pagan 
philosophy,  without  thinking  of  the  sadness  of  Pascal 
and  the  gentleness  of  Fenelon.  We  must  pause  before 
this  soul,  so  lofty  and  so  pure,  to  contemplate  ancient 
virtue  in  its  softest  brilliancy,  to  see  the  moral  delicacy 
to  which  profane  doctrines  have  attained — how  they 
laid  down  their  pride,  and  how  penetrating  a grace 
they  have  found  in  their  new  simplicity.  To  make  the 
example  yet  more  striking.  Providence,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Stoics,  does  nothing  by  chance,  determined 
that  the  example  of  these  simple  virtues  should  bloom 
in  the  midst  of  all  human  grandeur — that  charity 
should  be  taught  by  the  successor  of  blood-stained 
Caesars,  and  humbleness  of  heart  by  an  Emperor.” 
Aurelius  has  always  exercised  a powerful  fascination 
over  the  minds  of  eminent  men.  “ If  you  set  aside, 
for  a moment,  the  contemplation  of  the  Christian  veri- 
ties,” says  the  eloquent  and  thoughtful  Montesquieu, 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


75 


“ search  throughout  all  nature,  and  you  will  not  find  a 
grander  object  than  the  Antonines.  . . . One  feels 
a secret  pleasure  in  speaking  of  this  Emperor ; one 
cannot  read  his  life  without  a softening  feeling  of 
emotion.  He  produces  such  an  effect  upon  our  minds 
that  we  think  better  of  ourselves,  because  he  inspires 
us  with  a better  opinion  of  mankind.”  “ It  is  more 
delightful,”  says  the  great  historian,  Niebuhr,  to  speak 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  than  of  any  man  in  history;  for  if 
there  is  any  sublime  human  virtue  it  is  his.  He  was 
certainly  the  noblest  character  of  his  time,  and  I know 
no  other  man  who  combined  such  unaffected  kindness, 
mildness,  and  humility,  with  such  conscientiousness 
and  severity  toward  himself.  We  possess  innumerable 
busts  of  him,  for  every  Roman  of  his  time  w'as  anxious 
to  possess  his  portrait,  and  if  there  is  anywhere  an  ex- 
pression of  virtue  it  is  in  the  heavenly  features  of 
Marcus  Aurelius.” 

Marcus  Aurelius  was  born  on  April  26,  a.  d.  121. 
His  more  correct  designation  would  be  Marcus  Anton- 
inus, but  since  he  bore  several  different  names  at  dif- 
ferent periods  of  his  life,  and  since  at  that  age  nothing 
was  more  common  than  a change  of  designation,  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  to  alter  the  name  by  which  he  is 
most  popularly  recognized.  His  father,  Annius  Yerus, 
who  died  in  his  Prmtorship,  drew  his  blood  from  a 
line  of  illustrious  men  who  claimed  descent  from  Numa, 
the  second  King  of  Rome.  His  mother,  Domitia  Cal- 
villa,  was  also  a lady  of  consular  and  kingly  race. 
The  character  of  both  seems  to  have  been  worthy  of 
their  high  dignity.  Of  his  father  he  can  have  known 
little,  since  Annius  died  when  Aurelius  was  a mere 
infant ; but  in  his  Meditations  he  has  left  us  a grateful 


76 


ESSA  Y ON  MARCUS  A UR  ELI  US. 


memorial  of  both  his  parents.  He  says  that  from  his 
grandfather  he  learned  (or,  might  have  learned)  good 
morals  and  the  government  of  his  temper ; from  the 
reputation  and  remembrance  of  his  father,  modesty 
and  manliness ; from  his  mother,  piety,  and  benefi- 
cence, and  abstinence  not  only  from  evil  deeds.,  but  even 
from  evil  thoughts  ; and,  further,  simplicity  of  life  far 
removed  from  the  habits  of  the  rich. 

The  childhood  and  boyhood  of  Aurelius  fell  during 
the  reign  of  Hadrian.  The  times  were  better  than 
those  which  we  have  contemplated  in  the  reigns  of  the 
Caesars.  After  the  suicide  of  Nero  and  the  brief  reigns 
of  Galba  and  Otho,  the  Roman  world  had  breathed  more 
freely  for  a time  under  the  rough  good  humor  of  Ves- 
pasian and  the  philosophic  virtue  of  Titus.  The  reign 
of  Domitian,  indeed,  who  succeeded  his  brother  Titus, 
was  scarcely  less  terrible  and  infamous  than  that  of 
Caius  or  of  Nero  ; but  that  prince,  shortly  before  his 
murder,  had  dreamed  that  a golden  neck  had  grown 
out  of  his  own,  and  interpreted  the  dream  to  indicate 
that  a better  race  of  princes  should  follow  him.  The 
dream  was  fulfilled.  Whatever  may  have  been  their 
other  faults,  Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  were  wise  and 
kind-hearted  rulers ; Antoninus  Pius  and  Marcus  Aure- 
lius were  among  the  very  gentlest  and  noblest  sovereigns 
whom  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Hadrian,  though  an  able,  indefatigable,  and,  on  the 
whole,  beneficial  Emperor,  was  a man  whose  charac- 
ter was  stained  with  serious  faults.  It  is,  however, 
greatly  to  his  honor  that  he  recognized  in  Aurelius,  at 
the  early  age  of  six  years,  the  germs  of  those  extra- 
ordinary virtues  which  afterward  blessed  the  empire 
and  elevated  the  sentiments  of  mankind,  “ Hadrian’s 


B7  CANON  FABBAR. 


77 


held  and  sinful  habits  left  him,”  says  ISTiebuhr,  “ when 
he  gazed  on  the  sweetness  of  that  innocent  child. 
Playing  on  the  bo^^’s  paternal  name  of  Verus,  he 
called  him  Yerissimus,  ‘ the  most  true.’  ” It  is  inter- 
esting to  find  that  this  trait  of  character  was  so  early 
developed  in  one  who  thought  that  all  men  “should 
speak  as  they  think,  with  an  accent  of  heroic  verity.” 

Toward  the  end  of  his  long  reign,  worn  out  with 
disease  and  weariness,  Hadrian,  being  childless,  had 
adopted  as  his  son  L.  Ceionius  Commodus,  a man  who 
had  few  recommendations  but  his  personal  beauty. 
Upon  his  death,  wdiich  took  place  a year  afterward, 
Hadrian,  assembling  the  senators  round  his  sick  bed, 
adopted  and  presented  to  them  as  their  future  Emperor 
Arrius  Antoninus,  better  known  by  the  surname  of 
Pius,  which  he  won  by  his  gratitude  to  the  memory  of 
his  predecessor.  Had  Aurelius  been  older — he  was 
then  but  seventeen — it  is  known  that  Hadrian  would 
have  chosen  him,  and  not  Antoninus,  for  his  heir.  The 
latter,  indeed,  who  w^as  then  fifty  two  years  old,  was 
only  selected  on  the  express  condition  that  he  should 
in  turn  adopt  both  Marcus  Aurelius  and  the  son  of  the 
deceased  Ceionius.  Thus,  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
Aurelius,  who,  even  from  his  infancy,  had  been  loaded 
with  conspicuous  distinctions,  saw  himself  the  ac- 
knowledged heir  to  the  empire  of  the  world. 

We  are  happily  able,  mainly  from  his  own  writings, 
to  give  some  sketch  of  the  influences  and  the  educa- 
tion which  had  formed  him  for  this  exalted  station. 

He  was  brought  up  in  the  house  of  his  grandfather, 
a man  who  had  been  three  times  consul.  He  makes  it 
a matter  of  congratulation  and  thankfulness  to  the 
gods,  that  he  had  not  been  sent  to  any  public  school. 


78 


BSSA  T ON  MABCU8  A UBELIU8. 


Avhere  he  would  have  run  the  risk  of  being  tainted  by 
that  frightful  corruption  into  which,  for  many  years, 
the  Roman  youth  had  fallen.  He  expresses  a sense  of 
obligation  to  his  great-grandfather  for  having  supplied 
him  with  good  teachers  at  home,  and  for  the  conviction 
that  on  such  things  a man  should  spend  liberally. 
There  was  nothing  jealous,  barren,  or  illiberal,  in  the 
training  he  received.  He  was  fond  of  boxing,  wrest- 
ling, running  ; he  was  an  admirable  player  at  ball,  and 
he  was  fond  of  the  perilous  excitement  of  hunting  the 
wild  boar.  Thus,  his  healthy  sports,  his  serious  studies, 
his  moral  instruction,  his  public  dignities  and  duties, 
all  contributed  to  form  his  character  in  a beautiful  and 
manly  mold.  There  are,  however,  three  respects  in 
which  his  education  seems  especially  worthy  of  notice ; 
I mean  the  diligence,  the  gratitude,  and  the  hardiness 
in  which  he  was  encouraged  by  others,  and  which  he 
practiced  with  all  the  ardor  of  generous  conviction. 

1.  In  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  Aurelius  was  dili- 
gent. He  alludes  more  than  once  in  his  Meditations 
to  the  inestimable  value  of  time,  and  to  his  ardent 
desire  to  gain  more  leisure  for  intellectual  jnirsuits.  He 
flung  himself  with  his  usual  undeviating  steadfastness 
of  purpose  into  every  branch  of  study,  and  though  he 
deliberately  abandoned  rhetoric,  he  toiled  hard  at 
philosophy,  at  the  discipline  of  arms,  at  the  adminis- 
tration of  business,  and  at  the  difficult  study  of  Roman 
jurisprudence.  One  of  the  acquisitions  for  which  he 
ex]U’esses  gratitude  to  his  tutor  Rusticus,  is  that  of 
reading  carefully,  and  not  being  satisfied  with  the 
superlicial  understanding  of  a book.  In  fact,  so  stren- 
uous was  his  labor,  and  so  great  his  abstemiousness, 
that  his  health  suffered  by  the  combination  of  the  two. 


BY  CANON  FABRAR. 


79 


2.  His  opening  remarks  show  that  he  remembered 
all  his  teachers — even  the  most  insignificant — with 
sincere  gratitude.  He  regarded  each  one  of  them  as  a 
man  from  whom  something  could  be  learned,  and  from 
whom  he  actually  did  learn  that  something.  Hence 
the  honorable  respect — a respect  as  honorable  to  him- 
self as  to  them — which  he  paid  to  Fronto,  to  Husticus, 
to  Julius  Proculus,  and  others  whom  his  noble  and 
conscientious  gratitude  raised  to  the  highest  dignities 
of  the  State.  He  even  thanks  the  gods  that  “ he  made 
haste  to  place  those  who  brought  him  up  in  the  station 
of  honor  which  they  seemed  to  desire,  without  putting 
them  off  with  mere  hojpes  of  his  doing  it  some  time 
after,  because  they  were  then  still  young.”  He  Avas 
far  the  superior  of  these  men,  not  only  socially  but 
even  morally  and  intellectually ; yet  from  the  height 
of  his  exalted  rank  and  character  he  delighted  to  asso- 
ciate Avith  them  on  the  most  friendly  terms,  and  to 
treat  them,  even  till  his  death,  with  affection  and 
honor,  to  place  their  likenesses  among  his  household 
gods,  and  visit  their  sepulchres  with  wreaths  and 
victims. 

3.  His  hardiness  and  self-denial  were  perhaps  still 
more  remarkable.  I Avish  that  those  boys  of  our  day, 
Avho  think  it  undignified  to  travel  second-class,  Avho 
dress  in  the  extreme  of  fashion,  wear  roses  in  their 
button-holes,  and  spend  upon  ices  and  strawberries 
Avhat  would  maintain  a poor  man  for  a year,  w'ould 
learn  how  infinitely  more  noble  Avas  the  abstinence  of 
this  young  Roman,  Avho  though  born  in  the  midst  of 
splendor  and  luxury,  learned  from  the  first  to  loathe 
the  petty  vice  of  gluttony,  and  to  despise  the  un man- 
liness of  self-indulgence.  Very  early  in  life  he  joined 


80 


£:SSA  r ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


the  giorious  fellowship  of  those  who  esteem  it  not  only 
a duty  but  a pleasure 

“ To  scorn  delights,  and  live  laborious  days,  ■’ 

and  had  learned  “endurance  of  labor,  and  to  want 
little,  and  to  Avork  Avith  his  o\Am  hands.”  In  his 
eleventh  year  he  become  acquainted  AA^ith  Diognetus, 
Avho  first  introduced  hi}n  to  the  Stoic  philosophy,  and 
in  his  twelfth  year  he  assumed  the  Stoic  dress.  This 
philosophy  taught  him  “ to  prefer  a plank  bed  and  skin, 
and  Avhatever  else  of  tlie  kind  belongs  to  the  Grecian 
discipline.”  It  is  said  that  “ tlie  skin  ” Avas  a concession 
to  the  entreaties  of  his  mother,  and  that  the  young 
philosopher  himself  Avould  have  chosen  to  sleep  on  the 
bare  boards  or  on  the  ground.  Yet  he  acted  thus 
without  self-assertion  and  Avithout  ostentation.  His 
friends  found  him  ahvays  cheerful;  and  his  calm 
features — in  Avhich  a dignity  and  thoughtfulness  of 
spirit  contrasted  AAuth  the  bloom  and  beauty  of  a pure 
and  honorable  boyhood — Avere  never  overshadoAved 
Avith  ill-temper  or  Avith  gloom. 

The  guardians  of  Marcus  Aurelius  had  gathered 
around  him  all  the  most  distinguished  literary  teachers 
of  the  age.  Never  had  a prince  a greater  number  of 
eminent  instructors ; never  Avere  any  teachers  made 
happy  by  a more  grateful,  a more  humble,  a more 
blameless,  a more  truly  royal  and  glorious  pupil.  Long 
years  after  his  education  had  ceased,  during  his  cam- 
paign among  the  Quadi,  he  wrote  a sketch  of  what 
he  OAved  to  them.  This  sketch  forms  the  first  book 
of  his  Meditations^,  and  is  characterized  throughout  by 
the  most  unaffected  simplicity  and  modesty. 

The  Meditations  of  Marcus  Aurelius  were,  in  fact, 


BT  CANON  FARBAR. 


81 


his  private  diary  ; they  are  a noble  soliloquy  with  his 
own  heart,  an  honest  exa*uiination  of  his  own  con- 
science ; there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  their  having 
been  intended  for  any  eye  but  his  own.  In  them  he 
was  acting  on  the  principle  of  St.  Augustine : “ Go  up 
into  the  tribunal  of  thy  conscience,  and  set  thyself 
before  thyself.”  He  was  ever  bearing  about — 

“ A silent  court  of  justice  in  himself, 

Himself  the  judge  and  jury,  and  himself 
The  prisoner  at  the  bar,” 

And  writing  amid  all  the  cares  and  distractions  of  a 
war  which  he  detested,  he  averted  his  eyes  from  the 
manifold  weariness  which  daily  vexed  his  soul,  and 
calmly  sat  down  to  meditate  on  all  the  great  qualities 
which  he  had  observed,  and  all  the  good  lessons  that 
he  might  have  learned  from  those  who  had  instructed 
his  boyhood,  and  surrounded  his  manly  years. 

And  what  had  he  learned? — learned  heartily  to 
admire,  and  {we  may  say)  learned  to  practice  also  ? A 
sketch  of  his  first  book  will  show  us.  What  he  had 
gained  from  his  immediate  parents  we  have  seen 
already,  and  we  will  make  a brief  abstract  of  his  other 
obligations. 

From  “his  governor” — to  which  of  his  teachers  this 
name  applies  we  are  not  sure — he  had  learned  to  avoid 
factions  at  the  races,  to  work  hard,  and  to  avoid  list- 
ening to  slander ; from  Diognetus,  to  despise  frivolous 
superstitions,  and  to  practice  self-denial ; from  Apoll- 
onius, undeviating  steadiness  of  purpose,  endurance  of 
misfortune,  and  the  reception  of  favors  without  being 
humbled  by  them ; from  Sextus  of  Chaeronea  (a  grand- 
son of  the  celebrated  Plutarch),  tolerance  of  the  igno- 
rant, gravity  without  affectation,  and  benevolence  of 


82 


ESS  A Y ON  MARCUS  A UEELIUS. 


heart ; from  Alexander,  delicacy  in  correcting  others  ; 
from  Severus,  “a  disposition  to  do  good,  and  to  give 
to  others  readily,  and  to  cherish  good  hope,  and  to 
believe  that  I am  beloved  of  my  friends;”  from  Maxi- 
mus, “sweetness  and  dignity,  and  to  do  what  was  set 
before  me  without  complaining from  Alexander  the 
Platonic,  “ not  frequently  to  say  to  any  one,,  nor  to  write 
in  a letter,  that  I ham  no  leisure  / nor  continually  to 
excuse  the  neglect  of  ordinary  duties  by  alleging 
urgent  occupations.” 

To  one  or  two  others  his  obligations  were. still  more 
cliaracteristic  and  important.  From  Eusticus,  for  in- 
stance, an  excellent  and  able  man,  whose  advice  for 
years  he  was  accustomed  to  respect,  he  had  learned  to 
despise  sophistry  and  disjday,  to  write  with  simplicity, 
to  be  easily  pacified,  to  be  accurate,  and — an  inesti- 
mable benefit  this,  and  one  which  tinged  the  color  of 
his  whole  life — to  become  acquainted  with  the  Dis- 
courses of  Epictetus.  And  from  his  adoptive  father, 
the  great  Antoninus  Pius,  he  had  derived  advantages 
still  more  considerable.  In  him  he  saAV  the  example 
of  a sovereign  and  statesman  firm,  self-controlled, 
modest,  faithful,  and  even  tempered ; a man  who  de- 
spised flattery  and  hated  meanness ; who  honored  the 
wise  and  distinguished  the  meritorious ; who  was  in- 
different to  contemptible  trifles,  and  indefatigable  in 
earnest  business ; one,  in  short,  “ who  had  a perfect 
and  invincible  soul,”  who,  like  Socrates,  “was  able 
both  to  abstain  from  and  to  enjo}"  those  things  which 
many  are  too  weak  to  abstain  from  and  cannot  enjoy 
without  excess.”*  Piety,  serenity,  sweetness,  disre- 


* My  quotations  from  Marcus  Aurelius  will  be  made  (by  permis- 
sion) from  the  forcible  and  admirably  accurate  translation  of  Mr. 


BT  CANON  FABBAB. 


83 


gard  of  empty  fame,  calmness,  simplicity,  patience,  are 
virtues  which  he  attributes  to  him  in  another  full- 
length  portrait  (vi.  30)  which  he  concludes  with  the 
words,  “Imitate  all  this,  that  thou  mayest  have  as 
good  a conscience  when  thy  last  hour  comes  as  he  had.” 
He  concludes  these  reminiscences  of  thankfulness 
with  a summary  of  what  he  owed  to  the  gods.  And 
for  what  does  he  thanks  the  gods  ? for  being  wealthy, 
and  noble,  and  an  emperor  ? A”ay,  for  no  vulgar  or 
dubious  blessings  such  as  these,  but  for  the  guidance 
which  trained  him  in  philosophy,  and  for  the  grace 
which  kept  him  from  sin.  And  here  it  is  that  his 
genuine  modesty  comes  out.  As  the  excellent  divine 
used  to  say  when  he  saw  a criminal  led  past  for  execu- 
tion, “There,  but  for  the  grace  of  God,  goes  John 
Bradford,”  so,  after  thanking  the  gods  for  the  good- 
ness of  all  his  family  and  relatives,  Aurelius  says, 
“ Further,  I owe  it  to  the  gods  that  I was  not  hurried 
into  any  offense  against  any  of  them,  though  I had  a 
disposition  which,  if  opportunity  had  offered,  might 
have  led  me  to  do  something  of  this  kind  ; but  through 
their  favor  there  never  was  such  a concurrence  of  cir- 
cumstances as  put  me  to  the  trial.  Further,  that  I 
was  subjected  to  a ruler  and  father  who  took  away  all 
pride  from  me,  and  taught  me  that  it  was  possible  to 
live  in  a palace  without  guards,  or  embroidered  dresses, 
or  torches,  and  statues,  and  such-like  show,  but  to  live 
very  near  to  the  fashion  of  a private  person,  without 
being  either  mean  in  thought  or  remiss  in  action  ; that 
after  having  fallen  into  amatory  passions  I was  cured ; 

Long.  In  thanking  Mr.  Long,  I may  be  allowed  to  add  that  the 
English  reader  will  find  in  his  version  the  best  means  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  purest  and  noblest  book  of  antiquity. 


84 


SSSA  r ON  MARCUS  A URULIUS. 


that  though  it  was  my  mother’s  fate  to  die  young,  she 
spent  the  last  years  of  her  life  with  me ; that  when- 
ever I washed  to  help  any  man,  I was  never  told  that 
I had  not  the  means  of  doing  it ; that  I had  abundance 
of  good  masters  for  my  children : for  all  these  things 
require  the  help  of  the  gods  and  fortune.” 

The  whole  of  the  Emperor’s  Meditations  deserve  the 
profound  study  of  this  age.  The  self-denial  which  they 
display  is  a rebuke  to  our  ever-growing  luxury ; their 
generosity  contrasts  favorably  wdth  the  increasing 
bitterness  of  our  cynicism;  their  contented  acqui- 
escence in  God’s  will  rebukes  our  incessant  restless- 
ness ; above  all,  their  constant  elevation  shames  that 
multitude  of  little  vices,  and  little  meannesses,  which 
lie  like  a scurf  over  the  conventionality  of  modern  life. 
But  this  earlier  chapter  has  also  a special  value  for  the 
young.  It  offers  a picture  which  it  would  indeed  be 
better  for  them  and  for  us  if  they  could  be  induced  to 
study.  If  even  under 

“ That  fierce  light  that  beats  upon  the  throne,” 

the  life  of  Marcus  Aurelius  shows  no  moral  stain,  it  is 
still  more  remarkable  that  the  free  and  beautiful  boy- 
hood of  this  Roman  prince  had  early  learned  to  recog- 
nize only  the  excellences  of  his  teachers,  their  patience 
and  firmness,  their  benevolence  and  sweetness,  their 
integrity  and  virtue.  Amid  the  frightful  universality 
of  moral  corruption  he  preserved  a stainless  conscience 
and  a most  pure  soul ; he  thanked  God  in  language 
which  breathes  the  most  crystalline  delicacy  of  senti- 
ment and  language,  that  he  had  preserved  uninjured 
the  flower  of  his  early  life,  and  that  under  the  calm 
influences  of  his  home  in  the  country,  and  the  studies 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


85 


of  philosophy,  he  had  learned  to  value  chastity  as  the 
sacred  girdle  of  youth,  to  be  retained  and  honored  to 
his  latest  years.  “ Surely,”  says  Mr.  Carlyle,  “ a day 
is  coming  when  it  will  be  known  again  what  virtue  is 
in  purity  and  continence  of  life  ; how  divine  is  the 
blush  of  young  human  cheeks ; how  high,  beneficent, 
sternly  inexorable  is  the  duty  laid  on  every  creature 
in  regard  to  these  particulars.  Well,  if  such  a day 
never  come,  then  I perceive  much  else  will  never  come. 
Magnanimity  and  depth  of  insight  will  never  come ; 
heroic  purity  of  heart  and  of  eye ; noble  pious  valor 
to  amend  us,  and  the  age  of  bronze  and  lacquers,  how 
can  they  ever  come  ? The  scandalous  bronze-lacquer 
age  of  hungry  animalisms,  spiritual  impotencies,  and 
mendacities  will  have  to  run  its  course  till  the  pit 
swallow  it.” 


86 


ESSA  Y OE  MARCUS  A URELIU8. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  LIFE  AND  THOUGHTS  OF  MAECUS  AUKELIUS. 

On  the  death  of  Hadrian  in  a.  d.  138,  Antoninus 
Pius  succeeded  to  the  throne,  and,  in  accordance  with 
the  late  Emperor’s  conditions,  adopted  Marcus  Aure- 
lius and  Lucius  Coinmodus.  Marcus  had  been  be- 
trothed at  the  age  of  fifteen  to  the  sister  of  Lucius 
Coinmodus,  but  the  new  Emperor  broke,  off  the  en- 
gagement, and  betrothed  him  instead  to  his  daughter 
Faustina.  The  marriage,  however,  was  not  celebrated 
till  seven  years  afterward,  a.  d.  1-16. 

The  long  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius  is  one  of  those 
happy  periods  that  have  no  history.  An  almost  un- 
broken peace  reigned  at  home  and  abroad.  Taxes 
were  lightened,  calamities  relieved,  informers  discour- 
aged ; confiscations  were  rare,  plots  and  executions  were 
almost  unknown.  Throughout  the  whole  extent  of 
his  v^ast  domain  the  people  loved  and  valued  their  Em- 
peror, and  the  Emperoi'’s  one  aim  was  to  further  the 
happiness  of  his  people.  He,  too,  like  Aurelius,  had 
learned  that  what  was  good  for  the  bee  was  good  for 
the  hive.  He  strove  to  live  as  the  civil  administrator 
of  an  unaggressive  and  united  republic ; he  disliked 
war,  did  not  value  the  military  title  of  Imperator,  and 
never  deigned  to  accept  a triumph. 

With  this  wise  and  eminent  prince,  who  was  as 
amiable  in  his  private  relations  as  he  was  admirable  in 


BY  CANON  FARRAR. 


87 


the  discharge  of  his  public  duties,  Marcus  Aurelius 
spent  the  next  twenty-three  years  of  his  life.  So  close 
and  intimate  was  their  union,  so  completely  did  they 
regard  each  other  as  father  and  son,  that  during  all 
that  period  Aurelius  never  slept  more  than  twice  away 
from  the  house  of  Antoninus.  There  was  not  a shade 
of  jealousy  between  them;  each  was  the  friend  and 
adviser  of  the  other,  and,  so  far  from  regarding  his 
destined  heir  with  suspicion,  the  emperor  gave  him  the 
designation  “Cmsar,”  and  heaped  upon  him  ah.  the 
honors  of  the  Roman  Commonwealth.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  whisper  of  malignant  tongues  attempted  to 
shake  this  mutual  confidence.  Antoninus  once  saw  the 
mother  of  Aurelius  in  earnest  prayer  before  the  statue 
of  Apollo.  “ What  do  you  think  she  is  praying  for  so 
intently?”  asked  a wretched  mischief-maker  of  the 
name  of  Valerius  Omulus-:  “ It  is  that  you  may  die,  and 
her  son  reign.”  This  wicked  suggestion  might  have 
driven  a prince  of  meaner  character  into  violence  and 
disgust,  but  Antoninus  passed  it  over  with  the  silence 
of  contempt. 

It  was  the  main  delight  of  Antoninus  to  enjoy  the 
quiet  of  his  country  villa.  Unlike  Hadrian,  who  tra- 
versed immense  regions  of  his  vast  dominion,  Antoninus 
lived  entirely  either  at  Rome,  or  in  his  beautiful 
villa  at  Lorium,  a little  sea-coast  village  about  twelve 
miles  from  the  capital.  In  this  villa  he  had  been  born, 
and  here  he  died,  surrounded  by  the  reminiscences  of 
his  childhood.  In  this  his  real  home  it  was  his  special 
pleasure  to  lay  aside  the  pomp  and  burden  of  his 
imperial  rank.  “ He  did  not,”  says  Marcus,  “ take  the 
bath  at  unseasonable  hours ; he  was  not  fond  of  build- 
ing houses,  nor  curious  about  what  he  eat,  nor  about 


88 


ESSAY  ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


the  texture  and  color  of  his  clothes,  nor  about  the 
beauty  of  his  slaves.”  Even  the  dress  he  wore  was  the 
Avork  of  the  provincial  artist  in  his  little  native  place. 
So  far  from  checking  the  philosophic  tastes  of  his 
adopted  son  he  fostered  them,  and  sent  for  Apollonius 
of  Chalcisto  be  his  teacher  in  the  doctrines  of  Stoicism. 
In  one  of  his  notes  to  Fronto,  Marcus  draws  the  picture 
of  their  simple  country  occupations  and  amusements. 
Hunting,  fishing,  boxing,  wrestling,  occupied  the 
leisure  of  the  tAvo  princes,  and  they  shared  the  rustic 
festivities  of  the  vintage.  “ I have  dined,”  he  Avrites, 
“ on  a little  bread.  . . . We  perspired  a great  deal, 

shouted  a great  deal,  and  left  some  gleanings  of  the 
vintage  hanging  on  the  trellis  Avork.  . . . When  I 

got  home  I studied  a little,  but  not  to  much  advantage 
I had  a long  talk  Avith  my  mother,  Avho  was  lying  on 
her  couch.”  Who  knoAvs  hoAV  much  Aurelius  and  hoAV 
much  the  Avorkl  may  haAm  gained  from  such  conversa- 
tion as  this  Avith  a mother  from  AAdiom  he  had  learned 
to  hate  even  the  thought  of  evil?  Hor  Avill  anyone 
despise  the  simplicity  of  heart  Avhich  made  him  mingle 
AAuth  the  peasants  as  an  amateur  vintager,  unless  he  is 
so  tasteless  and  so  morose  as  to  think  Avith  scorn  of 
Scipio  and  Laelius  as  they  gathered  shells  on  the  sea- 
shore, or  of  Henry  IV  as  he  plajmd  at  horses  Avith  his 
little  boys  on  all-fours.  The  capability  of  unbending 
thus,  the  genuine  cheerfulness  Avhich  enters  at  due 
times  into  simple  amusements,  has  been  found  not 
rarely  in  the  highest  and  purest  minds. 

For  many  years  no  incident  of  importance  broke  the 
even  tenor  of  Aurelius’  life.  He  lived  peaceful,  happy, 
prosperous,  and  beloved,  Avatching  without  envy  the 
increasing  years  of  his  adopted  father.  But  in  the 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


89 


year  161,  when  Marcus  was  now  forty  years  old, 
Antoninus  Pius,  who  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy- 
five,  caught  a fever  at  Lorium.  Feeling  that  his  end 
was  near,  he  summoned  his  friends  and  the  chief  men 
of  Eome  to  his  bedside,  and  there  (without  saying  a 
word  about  his  other  adopted  son,  who  is  generally 
known  by  the  name  of  Lucius  Yerus)  solemnly  recom- 
mended Marcus  to  them  as  his  successor ; and  then, 
giving  to  the  captain  of  the  guard  the  watchword  of 
“ Equanimit\^,”  as  though  his  earthly  task  was  over,  he 
ordered  to  be  transferred  to  the  bedroom  of  Marcus 
the  little  golden  statue  of  Fortune,  which  Avas  kept  in 
the  private  chamber  of  the  emperors  as  an  omen  of 
public  prosperity. 

The  very  first  public  act  of  the  new  Emperor  Avas  one 
of  splendid  generosity,  namely,  the  admission  of  his 
adoptive  brother  Lucius  Yerus  into  the  fullest  partici- 
pation of  imperial  honors,  the  Tribunitian  and  procon- 
sular poAvers,  and  the  titles  Caesar  and  Augustus.  The 
admission  of  Lucius  Yerus  to  a share  of  the  empire 
Avas  due  to  the  innate  modesty  of  Marcus.  As  he  Avas 
a devoted  student,  and  cared  less  for  manly  exercises, 
in  Avhich  Yerus  excelled,  he  thought  that  his  adoptive 
brother  Avould  be  a better  and  more  useful  general 
than  himself,  and  that  he  could  best  serve  the  State 
by  retaining  the  civil  administration,  and  entrusting 
to  his  brother  the  management  of  Avar.  Yerus,  how- 
ever, as  soon  as  he  got  away  from  the  immediate  influ- 
ence and  ennobling  society  of  Marcus,  broke  loose 
from  all  decency,  and  shoAved  himself  to  be  a Aveak 
and  Avorthless  personage,  as  unfit  for  war  as  he  Avas 
for  all  the  nobler  duties  of  peace,  and  capable  of  noth- 
ing but  enormous  gluttony  and  disgraceful  self-indul- 


90 


ESSAY  ON  MARCUS  AURELIUS. 


g'ence.  Two  things  only  can  be  said  in  his  favor : the 
one,  that,  though  depraved,  he  was  wholly  free  from 
cruelty;  and  the  other,  that  he  had  the  good  sense  to 
submit  himself  entirely  to  his  brother,  and  to  treat 
him  with  the  gratitude  and  deference  which  were 
his  due. 

IMarcus  had  a large  family  by  Faustina,  and  in  the 
first  3^ear  of  his  reign  his  wife  bore  twins,  of  whom 
the  one  who  survived  became  the  wicked  and  detested 
Emperor  Commodus.  As  though  the  birth  of  such  a 
child  were  in  itself  an  omen  of  ruin,  a storm  of  calam- 
ity began  at  once  to  burst  over  the  long  tranquil  State. 
An  inundation  of  the  Tiber  flung  down  houses  and 
streets  over  a great  part  of  Eome,  swept  awa}’^  multi- 
tudes of  cattle,  spoiled  the  harvests,  devastated  the 
fields,  and  caused  a distress  which  ended  in  wide- 
spread famine.  Men’s  minds  were  terrified  by  earth- 
quakes, by  the  burning  of  cities,  and  by  plagues  or 
noxious  insects.  To  these  miseries,  which  the  Em- 
perors did  their  best  to  alleviate,  was  added  the  hor- 
rors of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars.  The  Partians,  under 
their  king,  Vologeses,  defeated  and  all  but  destroyed 
a Roman  army,  and  devastated  with  impunity  the 
Roman  province  of  Syria.  The  wild  tribes  of  the 
Catti  burst  over  Germany  with  fire  and  sword ; and 
the  news  from  Britain  was  full  of  insurrection  and 
tumult.  Such  \vere  the  elements  of  trouble  and  discord 
which  overshadowed  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
from  its  very  beginning  down  to  its  weary  close. 

As  the  Partian  war  was  the  most  important  of  the 
three,  Yerus  was  sent  to  quell  it,  and  but  for  the 
ability  of  his  generals — the  greatest  of  whom  was 
Avidius  Cassius — would  have  ruined  irretrievably  the 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


91 


fortunes  of  the  Empire.  These  generals,  however, 
vindicated  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  name,  and  Yerus 
returned  in  triumph,  bringing  back  with  him  from  the 
East  the  seeds  of  a terrible  pestilence  which  devastated 
the  whole  Empire,  and  by  which,  on  the  outbreak  of 
fresh  wars,  Yerus  himself  was  carried  off  at  Aquileia. 

Worthless  as  he  was,  Marcus,  who  in  his  lifetime 
had  so  often  pardoned  and  concealed  his  faults,  paid 
him  the  highest  honors  of  sepulcre,  and  interred  his 
ashes  in  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian.  There  were  not 
wanting  some  who  charged  him  with  the  guilt  of  frat- 
ricide, asserting  that  the  death  of  Yerus  had  been  has- 
tened by  his  means ! 

I have  only  one  reason  for  alluding  to  atrocious  and 
contemptible  calumnies  like  these,  and  that  is  because 
— since,  no  doubt,  such  whispers  reached  his  ears — 
they  help  to  account  for  that  deep,  unutterable  mel- 
ancholy which  breathes  through  the  little  golden  book 
of  the  Emperor’s  Meditations.  We  find,  for  instance, 
among  them  this  isolated  fragment : 

“A  black  character,  a womanish  character,  a stub- 
born character,  bestial,  childish,  animal,  stupid,  coun- 
terfeit, scurrilous,  fraudulent,  tyrannical.” 

We  know  not  of  whom  he  was  thinking — perhaps  of 
Hero,  perhaps  of  Caligula,  but  undoubtedly  also  of 
men  whom  he  had  seen  and  known,  and  Avhose  very 
existence  darkened  his  soul.  The  same  sad  spirit 
breathes  also  through  the  following  passages ; 

“ Soon,  very  soon,  thou  wfilt  be  ashes,  or  a skeleton, 
and  either  a name  or  not  even  a name ; but  name  is 
sound  and  echo.  And  the  things  which  are  much 
valued  in  life  are  empty,  and  rotten,  and  trifling,  and 
little  dogs  hiting  one  another and  little  child/ren  guar- 


92 


ESSA  Y OJY  MABCUS  A UBELl  US. 


rding,  laughing.^  and  then  straightway  weeping.  Bui 
fidelity.,  and  modesty,  o/nd  justice  and  truth  are  fied 

“ ‘ Up  to  01ympu.s  from  the  wide-spread  earth.’  ” 

(v.  33.) 

“ It  would  be  a man’s  happiest  lot  to  depart  from 
mankind  without  having  had  a taste  of  lying,  and 
hypocrisy,  and  luxury,  and  pride.  However,  to  breathe 
Old  one's  life  when  a man  has  had  enough  of  those  things 
is  the  next  best  voyage,  as  the  saying  is  ” (ix.  2). 

^'■Enough  of  this  wretched  life,  and  murmuring,  and 
apish  trifles.  Why  art  thou  thus  disturbed  ? What  is 
there  new  in  this?  What  unsettles  thee?  . . . 

Towards  the  gods,  then,  now  become  at  last  more 
simple  and  better  ” (ix.  37).  The  thought  is  like  that 
which  dominates  through  the  Penitential  Psalms  of 
David — that  we  may  take  refuge  from  men,  their 
malignity,  and  their  meanness,  and  find  rest  for  our 
souls  in  God.  From  men  David  has  ^uhope;  mock- 
ery, treachery,  injustice,  are  all  that  he  expects  from 
them — the  bitterness  of  his  enemies,  the  far-off  indiffer- 
ence of  his  friends.  Hor  does  this  greatly  trouble  him, 
so  long  as  he  does  not  wholly  lose  the  light  of  God's 
countenance.  “I  had  no  place  to  fiee  unto,  and  no 
man  cared  for  my  soul.  I cried  unto  thee,  O Lord, 
and  said.  Thou  art  my  hope,  and  my  portion  in  the 
land  of  the  living.”  “ Cast  me  not  aAvay  from  Thy 
presence,  and  take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me.” 

But  Avhatever  may  have  been  his  impulse  at  times 
to  give  up  in  despair  all  attempt  to  improve  the  “ little 
breed " of  men  around  him,  Marcus  had  schooled  his 
gentle  spirit  to  live  continually  in  far  other  feelings. 
Were  men  contemptible?  It  was  all  the  more  reason 
Avhy  he  should  himself  be  noble.  Were  men  petty, 


BY  CANON  F ARRAU. 


93 


and  malignant,  and  passionate,  and  unjust  ? In  that 
proportion  were  they  all  the  more  marked  out  for  pity 
and  tenderness,  and  ia  that  proportion  was  he  bound 
to  the  utmost  of  his  ability  to  show  himself  great,  and 
forgiving,  and  calm,  and  true.  Thus  Marcus  turns  his 
very  bitterest  experience  to  gold,  and  from  the  vile- 
ness of  others,  which  depressed  his  lonely  life,  so  far 
from  suffering  himself  to  be  embittered  as  well  as 
saddened,  he  only  draws  fi’esh  lessons  of  humanit}’'  and 
love. 

He  sa3^s,  for  instance,  “ Begin  the  morning  by  sa}dng 
to  thj^self,  1 shall  meet  loith  the  husylody,  the  tmgmte- 
ful,  arrogant,  deceitful,  envious,  'unsocial.  All  these 
things  happen  to  them  l>y  reason  of  their  ignorance  of 
'what  is  good  and  evil.  But  I who  have  seen  the 
nature  of  the  good  that  it  is  beautiful,  and  of  the  bad 
that  it  is  ugly,  and  the  nature  of  him  that  does  wrong 
that  is  akin  to  me,  . . . and  that  it  partakes  of 

the  same  portion  of  the  divinity,  I can  neither  be 
injured  by  any  of  them,  for  no  one  can  fix  on  me  what 
is  ugly,  nor  can  I be  angrv  with  m}''  kinsman,  nor  hate 
him.  For  'we  are  made  for  co  operation,  like  feet,  like 
hands,  like  eyelids,  like  the  rows  of  the  upper  and 
lower  teeth.  To  act  against  one  another  then  is  con- 
trary to  nature ; and  it  is  acting  against  one  another 
to  be  vexed  and  turn  away  ” (ii.  1).  Another  of  his 
rules,  and  an  eminently  wise  one,  was  to  fix  his 
thoughts  as  much  as  possible  on  the  virtues  of  others, 
rather  than  on  their  vices.  “ When  thou  wishest  to 
delight  thyself,  think  of  the  virtues  of  those  who  live 
Avith  thee — the  activity  of  one,  the  modesty  of  another, 
the  liberality  of  a third,  and  some  other  good  qualitA’' 
of  a fourth.”  What  a rebuke  to  the  contemptuous 


94 


ESSAY  OJSr  MARCUS  A UBELIUS. 


cynicism  which  we  are  daily  tempted  to  display ! ‘‘An. 
infinite  being  comes  before  us,’^  says  Eobertson,  “ with 
a whole  eternity  wrapped  up  in  his  mind  and  soul,  and 
we  proceed  to  classify  liim,p\d  a label  ujoon  him,  as  we 
would  upon  a jar,  saying.  This  is  rice,  that  is  jelly,  and 
this  pomatum  / and  then  Ave  think  we  have  saved  our- 
selves the  necessity  of  taking  off  the  coA^er.  Hoav 
differently  our  Lord  treated  the  people  who  came  to 
Him ! . . . consequently,  at  His  touch  each  one 

gave  out  his  peculiar  spark  of  light.” 

Here,  again,  is  a singularly  pithy,  comprehensive, 
and  beautiful  piece  of  ad\dce : — 

“ Men  exist  for  the  sake  of  one  another.  Teach  them 
or  hear  with  them  ” (viii.  59). 

And  again  : “ The  best  Avay  of  avenging  thyself  is 
not  to  become  like  the  Avrong  doer.” 

And  again,  “ If  any  man  has  done  Avrong,  the  harm 
is  his  OAvn.  But  perhaps  he  has  not  done  Avrong  ” 
(ix.  38). 

Most  remarkable,  hoAvever,  are  the  nine  rules  which 
he  drew  up  for  himself,  as  subjects  for  reflection  Avhen 
any  one  had  offended  him,  viz. : 

1.  That  men  Avere  made  for  each  other : even  the 
inferior  for  the  sake  of  the  superior,  and  these  for  the 
sake  of  one  another. 

2.  The  invincible  influences  that  act  upon  men,  and 
mold  their  opinions  and  their  acts. 

3.  That  sin  is  mainly  error  and  ignorance — an  invol- 
untary slavery. 

4.  That  we  are  ourselves  feeble,  and  by  no  means 
immaculate  ; and  that  often  our  very  abstinence  from 
faults  is  due  more  to  coAvardice  and  a care  for  our 
reputation  than  to  any  freedom  from  the  disposition  to 
commit  them. 


BT  CANON  FARBAR. 


95 


5.  That  our  judgments  are  apt  to  be  very  rash  and 
premature.  “ And  in  short  a man  must  learn  a great 
deal  to  enable  him  to  pass  a correct  judgment  on 
another  man’s  acts.” 

6.  When  thou  art  much  vexed  or  grieved,  consider 
that  man’s  life  is  only  a moment,  and  after  a short 
time  we  are  all  laid  out  dead. 

7.  That  no  wrongful  act  of  another  can  bring  shame 
on  us,  and  that  it  is  not  men’s  acts  which  disturb  us, 
but  our  own  opinions  of  them. 

8.  That  our  own  anger  hurts  us  more  than  the  acts 
themselves. 

9.  That  henevolenee  is  invincible,  if  it  be  not  an 
affected  smile,  nor  acting  a part.  “For  what  will  the 
most  violent  man  do  to  thee  if  thou  continuest  benevo- 
lent to  him?  gently  and  calmly  correcting  him,  ad- 
monishing him  when  he  is  trying  to  do  thee  harm, 
saying,  '■Not  so,  my  child:  we  are  constituted  by  nature 
for  something  else:  I shall  certainly  not  be  injured,  but 
thou  art  injuring  thyself,  my  child.’’  And  show  him 
with  gentle  tact  and  by  general  principles  that  this  is 
so,  and  that  even  bees  do  not  do  as  he  does,  nor  any 
gregarious  animal.  And  this  you  must  do  simply, 
unreproachfully,  affectionately ; without  rancor,  and 
if  possible  when  you  and  he  are  alone”  (xi.  18). 

'■‘■Not  so,  my  child;  thou  art  injuring  thyself,  my 
child.”  Can  all  antiquity  show  anything  tenderer 
than  this,  or  anything  more  close  to  the  spirit  of 
Christian  teaching  than  these  nine  rules  ? They  were 
worthy  of  the  men  who,  unlike  the  Stoics  in  general, 
considered  gentleness  to  be  a virtue,  and  a proof  at 
once  of  philosophy  and  of  true  manhood.  They  are 
written  with  that  effusion  of  sadness  and  benevolence 
to  which  it  is  difficult  to  find  a parallel.  They  show 


96 


ESSA  r ON  Af ARGUS  A URELIUS. 


how  completely  Marcus  had  triumphed  over  all  petty 
malignity,  and  how  earnestly  he  strove  to  fulfill  his 
own  precept  of  alwa3^s  keeping  the  thoughts  so  sweet 
and  clear,  that  “ if  any  one  should  suddenly  ask, 
‘What  hast  thou  now  in  thy  thoughts  ? with  perfect 
openness  thou  niightest  immediately  answer,  ‘ This  or 
that.’  ” In  short,  to  give  them  their  highest  pi’aise, 
they  would  have  delighted  the  great  Christian  Apostle 
who  wrote : 

“Warn  them  that  they  are  unruly,  comfort  the 
feeble-minded,  support  the  weak,  be  patient  toward  all 
men.  See  that  none  render  evil  for  evil  unto  any 
man ; but  ever  follow  that  which  is  good,  both  among 
yourselves,  and  to  all  men  ” (1  Thess.  iv.  14,  15). 

“ Count  him  not  as  an  enemy,  but  admonish  him  as 
a brother”  (2  Thess.  iv.  15). 

“ Forbearing  one  anotlier,  and  forgiving  one  another, 
if  any  man  have  a quarrel  against  any  ” (Col.  iii.  13). 

Nay,  are  they  not  even  in  full  accordance  Avith  the 
mind  and  spirit  of  Him  who  said : 

“ If  thy  brother  tres]>ass  against  thee,  go  and  tell 
him  his  fault  hetioeen  thee  and  him  alone:  if  he  shall 
hear  thee  thou  hast  gained  thy  hrotherP 

In  the  life  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  as  in  so  many  liA^es, 
Ave  are  able  to  tra,ce  the  great  laAV  of  compensation. 
Ilis  exalted  station,  during  the  later  years  of  his  life, 
threAV  him  among  many  Avho  Avere  false  and  Phari- 
saical and  base ; but  his  youth  had  been  spent  under 
happier  conditions,  and  this  saved  him  from  falling 
into  the  sadness  of  those  whom  neither  man  nor 
Avoman  please.  In  his  earlier  years  it  had  been  his  lot 
to  see  the  fairer  side  of  humanity,  and  the  recollection 
of  tliose  pure  and  hajApy  days  was  like  a healing  tree 
throAvn  into  the  bitter  and  turbid  waters  of  his  reign. 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


97 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LIFE  AND  THOUGHTS  OF  MARCUS  AURELIUS  {con- 
tinued). 

Marcus  was  now  the  undisputed  lord  of  the  Roman 
world.  He  was  seated  on  the  dizziest  and  most 
splendid  eminence  which  it  was  possible  for  human 
grandeur  to  obtain. 

But  this  imperial  elevation  kindled  no  glow  of  pride 
or  self-satisfaction  in  his  meek  and  chastened  nature. 
He  regarded  himself  as  being  in  fact  the  servant  of 
all.  It  was  his  duty,  like  that  of  the  bull  in  the  herd, 
or  the  ram  among  the  flocks,  to  confront  every  peril  in 
his  own  person,  to  be  foremost  in  all  the  hardships  of 
war  and  the  most  deeply  immersed  in  all  the  toils  of 
peace.  The  registry  of  the  citizens,  the  suppression  of 
litigation,  the  elevation  of  public  morals,  the  restrain- 
ing of  consanguineous  marriages,  the  care  of  minors, 
tlie  retrenchment  of  public  expenses,  the  limitation  of 
gladiatorial  games  and  shows,  the  care  of  roads,  the 
restoration  of  senatorial  privileges,  the  appointment  of 
none  but  worthy  magistrates,  even  the  regulation  of 
street  traffic — these  and  numberless  other  duties  so 
completely  absorbed  his  attention  that,  in  spite  of  in- 
different health,  they  often  kept  him  at  severe  labor 
from  early  morning  till  long  after  midnight.  His  posi- 
tion indeed  often  necessitated  his  presence  at  games 
and  shows,  but  on  these  occasions  he  occupied  himself 


98 


ESSAY  ON  MARCUS  AURRLIUS. 


either  in  reading,  or  being  read  to,  or  in  writing  notes. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  held  that  nothing  should  be 
done  hastily,  and  that  few  crimes  were  worse  than  the 
waste  of  time.  It  is  to  such  views  and  such  habits 
that  we  owe  the  compositions  of  his  works.  His 
meditations  were  written  amid  the  painful  self-denial 
and  distracting  anxieties  of  his  wars  with  the  Quadi 
and  the  JVIarcomanni,  and  he  was  the  author  of  other 
works  which  unhappily  have  perished.  Perhaps  of  all 
the  lost  treasures  of  antiquity  there  are  few  which  we 
should  fe'el  a greater  wish  to  recover  than  the  lost 
autobiography  of  this  wisest  of  emperors  and  holiest 
of  Pagan  men. 

As  for  the  external  trappings  of  his  rank — those 
gorgeous  adjuncts  and  pompous  circumstances  which 
excite  the  wonder  and  envy  of  mankind — no  man  could 
have  shown  himself  more  indifferent  to  them.  He 
recognized  indeed  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the 
dignity  of  his  high  position.  “Every  moment,”  he 
says,  “ think  steadily  as  a Roman  and  a man  to  do 
what  tho\i  hast  in  hand  with  perfect  and  simple  dignity  ^ 
and  affection,  and  freedom,  and  justice”  (ii.  5);  and 
again,  “ Let  the  Deity  which  is  in  thee  be  the  guardian 
of  a living  being,  manly  and  of  ripe  age^  and  engaged 
in  matters  political^  and  a Roman,  and  a ruler,  who 
has  taken  his  post  like  a man  waiting  for  the  signal 
which  summons  him  from  life”  (iii.  5).  But  he  did 
not  think  it  necessary  to  accept  the  fulsome  honors 
and  degi’ading  adulations  which  were  so  dear  to  many 
of  his  predecessors.  He  refused  tlie  pompous  blas- 
phemy of  temples  and  altars,  saying  that  for  every 
true  ruler  the  world  was  a temple,  and  all  good  men 
were  priests.  He  declined  as  much  as  possible  aU 


BT  CANON  NABBAB. 


golden  statues  and  triumphal  designations.  All  inevit- 
able luxuries  and  splendor,  such  as  his  public  duties 
rendered  indispensable,  he  regarded  as  a mere  hollow 
show.  Marcus  Aurelius  felt  as  deeply  as  our  own 
Shakespeare  seems  to  have  felt  the  unsubstantiality, 
the  fleeting  evanescence  of  all  earthly  things ; he  would 
have  delighted  in  the  sentiment  that, 

“We  are  such,  stuff 

As  dreams  are  made  on,  and  our  little  life 
Is  rounded  by  a sleep.  ” 


“ When  we  have  meat  before  us,”  he  says,  “ and  such 
eatables,  we  receive  the  impression  that  this  is  the 
dead  body  of  a fish,  and  this  is  the  dead  body  of  a 
bird,  or  of  a pig  ; and,  again,  that  this  Falerian  is  only 
a little  grajpe-yuice,  and  this  jyurjjle  rohe  some  sheep's 
wool  dyed  with  the  hlood  of  a shell-fish:  such  then  are 
these  impressions,  and  they  reach  the  things  them- 
selves and  penetrate  them,  and  so  we  see  what  kind  of 
things  they  are.  Just  in  the  same  way  . . . where 

there  are  things  which  appear  most  worthy  of  our 
approbation,  we  ought  to  lay  them  hare,  and  look  at 
their  worthlessness,  and  strip  them  of  all  the  words  by 
which  they  are  exalted  ” (vi.  13). 

“ What  is  worth  being  valued  ? To  be  received  with 
clapping  of  hands iNo.  Neither  must  we  value  the 
clapping  of  tongues,  for  the  praise  wdiich  comes  from 
the  many  is  a clapping  of  tongues  ” (vi.  16). 

“Asia,  Europe,  are  corners  of  the  universe;  all  the 
sea  is  a drop  in  the  universe ; Athos  a little  clod  of  the 
universe ; all  the  present  time  is  a point  in  eternity. 
All  things  are  little,  changeable,  perishable  ” (vi.  36). 


100 


ES8A  Y ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


And  to  Marcus  too,  no  less  than  to  Shakespeare,  it 
seemed  that — 

“All  tlie  world’s  a stage, 

And  all  the  men  and  women  merely  players;” 

for  he  writes  these  remarkable  words  : 

“ The  idle  business  of  show,  plays  on  the  stage,  flocks 
of  sheep,  herds,  exercises  with  spears,  a hone  cast  to  little 
dogs,  a bit  of  bread  in  fish-ponds,  laboring s of  a/nts,  and 
burden  - carrying  runnings  about  of  frightened  little 
mice,  puppets  pulled  by  strings  — this  is  what  life 
resembles.  It  is  thy  duty  then,  in  the  midst  of  such 
things,  to  show  good  humor,  and  not  a proud  air ; to 
understand,  however,  that  every  man  is  worth  just  so 
much  as  the  things  are  worth  about  which  he  busies 
himself. 

In  fact,  the  Court  was  to  Marcus  a burden  ; he  tells 
us  himself  that  Philosophy  was  his  mother.  Empire 
only  his  stepmother ; it  was  only  his  repose  in  the  one 
that  rendered  even  tolerable  to  him  the  burdens  of  the 
other.  Emperor  as  he  was,  he  thanked  the  gods  for 
having  enabled  him  to  enter  into  the  souls  of  a 
Thrasea,  an  Helvidius,  a Cato,  a Brutus.  Above  all, 
he  seems  to  have  had  a horror  of  ever  becoming  like 
some  of  his  predecessors ; he  writes  : 

“ Take  care  that  thou  art  not  made  into  a Csesar  ; * 
take  care  thou  art  not  dyed  -with  this  dye.  Keep  thy- 
self then  simple,  good,  pure,  serious,  free  from  affecta- 
tion, a friend  of  justice,  a worshipper  of  the  gods, 
kind,  affectionate,  strenuous  in  all  proper  acts.  Eever- 
ence  the  gods  and  help  men.  Short  is  life.  There  is 

* Marcus  here  invents  what  M.  Martha  justly  calls  “ an  admir- 
able barbarism  ” to  express  his  disgust  towards  such  men — opa 
pi]  (X7tvHai8ao(aQ7]i — “ take  care  not  to  be  Ccesarised.” 


B7  CANON  FARRAR. 


101 


only  one  fruit  of  this  terrene  life  / a jpious  disposition 
and  social  acts  ” (iv.  19). 

It  is  the  same  conclusion  as  that  which  sorrow  forced 
from  another  weary  and  less  admirable  king : “ Let  us 
hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter : Fear  God, 
and  keep  His  commandments ; for  this  is  the  whole 
duty  of  man.” 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  continue  the  meager  record 
of  the  life  of  Marcus,  so  far  as  the  bare  and  gossiping 
compilations  of  Dion  Cassius,*  and  Capitolinus,  and  the 
scattered  allusions  of  other  writers  can  enable  us  to  do 
so. 

It  must  have  been  with  a heavy  heart  that  he  set 
out  once  more  for  German}^  to  face  the  dangerous 
rising  of  the  Quadi  and  Marcomanni.  To  obtain  sol- 
diers sufficient  to  fill  up  the  vacancies  in  his  army 
which  had  been  decimated  by  the  plague,  he  was 
forced  to  enroll  slaves,  and  to  obtain  money  he  had  to 
sell  the  ornaments  of  the  palace,  and  even  some  of  the 
Empress’  jewels.  Immediately  before  he  started  his 
heart  was  wrung  by  the  death  of  his  little  boy,  the 
twin-brother  of  Commodus,  whose  beautiful  features 
are  still  preserved  for  us  on  coins.  Early  in  the  war, 
as  he  was  trying  the  depth  of  a ford,  he  was  assailed 
by  the  enemy  with  a sudden  storm  of  missiles,  and  was 
only  saved  from  imminent  death  by  being  sheltered 
beneath  the  shields  of  his  soldiers.  One  battle  was 
fought  on  the  ice  of  the  wintry  Danube.  But  by  far 
the  most  celebrated  event  of  the  war  took  place  in  a 
great  victory  over  the  Quadi  which  he  won  in  a.  d. 
174,  and  which  was  attributed  by  the  Christians  to 


* As  epitomized  by  Xipbilinus. 


1 02  E8SA  T ON  MARCUS  A URELlUS. 

what  is  known  as  the  “Miracle  of  the  Thundering 
Legion.” 

Divested  of  all  extraneous  additions,  the  fact  which 
occurred — as  established  bj  the  evidence  of  medals, 
and  by  one  of  the  bassi-relievi  on  the  “ Column  of 
Antonine,” — appears  to  have  been  as  follows.  Marcus 
Aurelius  and  his  army  had  been  entangled  in  a mount- 
ain defile,  into  which  they  had  too  hastily  pursued  a 
sham  retreat  of  the  barbarian  archers.  In  this  defile, 
unable  either  to  fight  or  to  fly,  pent  in  by  the  enemy, 
burnt  up  with  the  scorching  heat  and  tormented  by 
thirst,  they  lost  all  hope,  burst  into  wailing  and 
groans,  and  yielded  to  a despair  from  which  not  even 
the  strenuous  efforts  of  Marcus  could  arouse  them. 
At  the  most  critical  moment  of  their  danger  and 
misery  the  clouds  began  to  gather,  and  heavy  showers 
of  rain  descended,  which  the  soldiers  caught  in  their 
shields  and  helmets  to  quench  their  own  thirst  and 
that  of  their  horses.  While  they  were  thus  engaged 
the  enemy  attacked  them ; but  the  rain  was  mingled 
with  hail,  and  fell  with  blinding  fury  in  the  faces  of 
the  barbarians.  The  storm  was  also  accompanied 
with  thunder  and  lightning,  which  seems  to  have 
damaged  the  enemy,  and  filled  them  with  terror,  while 
no  casualty  occurred  in  the  Roman  ranks.  The  Romans 
accordingly  regarded  this  as  a Divine  interposition, 
and  achieved  a most  decisive  victory,  which  proved  to 
be  the  practical  conclusion  of  a hazardous  and  impor- 
tant war. 

The  Christians  regarded  the  event  not  'providential 
hut  as  miracxdous,  and  attributed  it  to  the  prayers  of 
their  brethren  in  a legion  which,  from  this  circum- 
stance, received  the  name  of  the  “ Thundering  Legion.” 


BY  CANON  FARRAR. 


103 


It  is,  however,  now  known  that  one  of  the  legions, 
distinguished  by  a flash  of  lightning  which  was  rep- 
resented on  their  shields,  had  been  known  by  this 
name  since  the  time  of  Augustus ; and  the  Pagans 
themselves  attributed  the  assistance  which  they  had 
received  sometimes  to  a prayer  of  the  pious  Emperor 
and  sometimes  to  the  incantations  of  an  Egyptian 
sorcerer  named  Arnuphis. 

One  of  the  Fathers,  the  passionate  and  eloquent  Ter- 
tullian,  attributes  to  this  deliverance  an  interposition 
of  the  Emperor  in  favor  of  the  Christians,  and  appeals 
to  a letter  of  his  to  the  Senate  in  which  he  acknowl- 
edged how  effectual  had  been  the  aid  he  had  received 
from  Christian  prayers,  and  forbade  any  one  hereafter 
to  molest  the  followers  of  the  new  religion,  lest  they 
should  use  against  him  the  weapon  of  supplication 
Avhich  had  been  so  powerful  in  his  favor.  This  letter 
is  preserved  at  the  end  of  the  Apology  of  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, and  it  adds  that,  not  only  are  no  Christians  to  be 
injured  or  persecuted,  but  that  any  one  who  informed 
against  them  is  to  be  buried  alive  ! We  see  at  once 
that  this  letter  is  one  of  those  impudent  and  transpar- 
ent forgeries  in  which  the  literature  of  the  first  five 
centuries  unhappily  abounds.  What  was  the  real 
relation  of  Marcus  to  the  Christians  we  shall  consider 
hereafter. 

To  the  gentle  heart  of  Marcus,  all  war,  even  when 
accompanied  with  victories,  was  eminently  distasteful ; 
and  in  such  painful  and  ungenial  occujDations  no  small 
part  of  his  life  was  passed.  What  he  thought  of  war 
and  of  its  successes  is  graphically  set  forth  in  the  fol- 
lowing remark : 

“ A spider  is  proud  when  it  has  caught  a fly,  and  an- 


104 


ESS  A Y ON  MARCUS  A UBELIUS. 


other  when  he  has  caught  a poor  hare,  and.  another 
when  he  has  taken  a little  fish  in  a net,  and  another 
Avhen  he  has  taken  wild  boars  or  bears,  and  another 
when  he  has  taken  Sannatians.  Are  not  these  robbers, 
Avhen  thou  exaininest  their  principles  ?”  He  here  con- 
demns his  OAYn  involuntary  actions ; but  it  was  his  un- 
happy destiny  not  to  have  trodden  out  the  embers  of 
this  war  before  he  was  burdened  with  another  far 
more  painful  and  formidable. 

This  Avas  the  revolt  of  Avidius  Cassius,  a general  of 
the  old  blunt  Homan  type,  whom,  in  spite  of  some 
ominous  Avarnings,  Marcus  both  loved  and  trusted. 
The  ingratitude  displayed  by  such  a man  caused  Mar- 
cus the  deepest  anguish ; but  he  was  saved  from  all 
dangerous  consequences  by  the  Avide-spread  affection 
Avhich  he  had  inspired  by  his  virtuous  reign. 

The  very  soldiers  of  the  rebellious  general  fell  away 
from  him ; and,  after  he  had  been  a nominal  Emperor 
for  only  three  months  and  six  days,  he  Avas  assassinated 
by  some  of  his  own  officers.  His  head  Avas  sent  to 
Marcus,  who  received  it  Avith  sorrow,  and  did  not  hold 
out  to  the  murderers  the  slightest  encouragement. 
The  joy  of  success  Avas  swallowed  up  in  regret  that 
his  enemy  had  not  lived  to  allow  him  the  luxury  of  a 
genuine  forgiveness.  He  begged  the  Senate  to  pardon 
all  the  family  of  Cassius,  and  to  suffer  this  single  file 
to  be  the  only  one  forfeited  in  consequence  of  civil 
Avar.  The  Fathers  received  these  proofs  of  clemency 
Avith  the  rapture  which  they  deserved,  and  the  Senate- 
house  resounded  with  acclamations  and  blessings. 

Never  had  a formidable  conspiracy  been  more  quietly 
and  effectually  crashed.  Marcus  traveled  through  the 
provinces  which  had  favored  the  cause  of  AAudius 


BT  CANON  FABRAB. 


105 


Cassius,  and  treated  them  all  with  the  most  complete 
and  indulgent  forbearance.  When  he  arrived  in  Syria, 
the  correspondence  of  Cassius  was  brought  to  him, 
and,  with  a glorious  magnanimity  of  which  history 
affords  but  few  examples,  he  consigned  it  all  to  the 
flames  unread. 

During  this  journey  of  pacification,  he  lost  his  wife 
Faustina,  Avho  died  suddenly  in  one  of  the  valleys  of 
Mount  Taurus.  Histoiy,  or  the  collection  of  anecdotes 
which  at  this  period  often  passes  as  history,  has 
assigned  to  Faustina  a character  of  the  darkest  in- 
famy, and  it  has  even  been  made  a charge  against 
Aurelius  that  he  overlooked  or  condoned  her  offences. 
As  far  as  Faustina  is  concerned,  we  have  not  much  to 
say,  although  there  is  strong  reason  to  believe  that 
many  of  the  stories  told  of  her  are  scandalously 
exaggerated,  if  not  absolutely  false.  Certain  it  is,  that 
most  of  the  imputations  upon  her  memory  rest  on  the 
malignant  anecdotes  recorded  by  Dion,  who  dearly 
loved  every  piece  of  scandal  which  degraded  human 
nature.  The  specific  charge  brought  against  her  of 
having  tempted  Cassius  from  his  allegiance  is  wholly 
unsupported,  even  if  it  be  not  absolutely  incompatible 
with  what  we  find  in  her  own  extant  letters ; and, 
finally,  Marcus  himself  not  onl}^  loved  her  tenderly,  as 
the  kind  mother  of  his  eleven  children,  but  in  his 
Meditations  actually  thanks  the  gods  for  having  granted 
him  “ such  a wife,  so  obedient,  so  affectionate,  and  so 
simple.”  No  doubt  Faustina  was  unworthy  of  her 
husband;  but  surely  it  is  the  glory  and  not  the  shame 
of  a noble  nature  to  be  averse  from  jealousy  and 
suspicion,  and  to  trust  others  more  deeply  than  they 
deserve. 


106 


mSA  Y ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


So  blameless  was  the  conduct  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
that  neither  the  malignity  of  contemporaries  nor  the 
spirit  of  posthumous  scandal  has  succeeded  in  discover- 
ing any  flaw  in  the  extreme  integrity  of  his  life  and 
})rinciples.  But  meanness  will  not  be  balked  of  its 
victims.  The  hatred  of  all  excellence  which  made 
Caligula  try  to  put  down  the  memory  of  great  men 
rages,  though  less  opening  in  tlie  minds  of  many. 
They  delight  to  degrade  human  life  into  that  dull  and 
barren  ]ilain  “ in  which  every  molehill  is  a mountain, 
and  every  thistle  a fo’‘est-tree.”  Great  men  are  as 
small  in  their  eyes  as  they  are  saitl  to  be  in  the  eyes  of 
their  valets;  and  there  are  multitudes  who,  if  they 
find 

“ Some  stain  or  blemish  in  a name  of  note, 

Not  grieving  that  their  greatest  are  so  small, 

Inflate  themselves  -with  some  insane  delight. 

And  judge  all  nature  from  her  feet  of  clay. 

Without  the  will  to  lift  their  eyes,  and  see 
Her  godlike  head  crown’d  with  spiritual  Are, 

And  touching  other  worlds.” 

This  I suppose  is  the  reason  why,  failing  to  drag 
down  Marcus  Aurelius  from  his  moral  elevation,  some 
have  attempted  to  assail  his  reputation  because  of  the 
supposed  vileness  of  Faustina  and  the  actual  depravity 
of  Commodus.  Of  Faustina  I have  spoken  already. 
Respecting  Commodus,  I tliink  it  sufficient  to  ask  with 
Solomon : “ Who  knoweth  whether  his  son  shall  be  a 
wise  man  or  a fool?”  Commodus  was  but  nineteen 
when  his  father  died  ; for  the  first  three  years  of  his 
reign  he  ruled  respectably  and  acceptably.  Marcus 
Aurelius  had  left  no  effort  untried  to  have  him  trained 
aright  by  the  first  teachers  and  the  wisest  men  whom 
the  age  produced;  and  Herodian  distinctly  tells  us 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


107 


that  he  had  lived  wtuously  up  to  the  time  of  his 
lather’s  death.  Setting  aside  natural  affection  alto- 
gether, and  even  assuming  (as  I should  conjecture  from 
one  or  two  passages  of  his  Meditation^  that  Marcus 
had  misgivings  about  his  son,  -would  it  have  been  eas}’', 
would  it  have  been  even  possible,  to  set  aside  on  gen- 
eral grounds  a son  who  had  attained  to  years  of 
maturity?  However  this  may  be,  if  there  are  any 
who  think  it  worth  while  to  censure  Marcus  because, 
after  all,  Commodus  turned  out  to  be  but  “ a warped 
slip  of  wilderness,”  their  censure  is  hardly  sufficiently 
discriminating  to  deserve  the  trouble  of  refutation. 

•‘But  Marcus  Aurelius  cruelly  persecuted  the  Chris- 
tians.” Let  us  briefly  consider  this  charge.  That 
persecutions  took  place  in  his  reign  is  an  undeniable 
fact,  and  is  sufficiently  evidenced  by  the  Apologies  of 
Justin  Martyr,  of  Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  of  Athena- 
goras,  and  of  Apollinarius,  as  well  as  by  the  Letter  of 
the  Church  of  Smyrna  describing  the  martyrdom  of 
Polycarp,  and  that  of  the  Churches  of  Lyons  and 
Vienne  to  their  brethren  in  Asia  Minor.  It  is  fair, 
however,  to  mention  that  there  is  some  documentary 
evidence  on  the  other  side ; Lactantius  clearly  asserts 
that  under  the  reigns  of  those  excellent  princes  who 
succeeded  Homitian  the  Church  suffered  no  violence 
from  her  enemies,  and  “ spread  her  hands  toward  the 
East  and  the  West;”  Tertnllian,  writing  but  twenty 
years  after  the  death  of  Marcus,  distinctly  says  (and 
Eusebius  quotes  the  assertion),  that  there  were  letters 
of  the  Emperor,  in  which  he  not  only  attributed  his 
delivery  among  the  Quadi  to  the  prayers  of  Christian 
soldiers  in  the  Thundering  Legion,”  but  ordered  any 
who  informed  against  the  Christians  to  be  most 


108 


ESSA  Y ON  MARCUS  A URELIU8. 


severely  punished ; and  at  the  end  of  the  works  of 
Justin  Martyr  is  found  a letter  of  similar  purport, 
which  is  asserted  to  have  been  addressed  by  Marcus  to 
the  Senate  of  Rome.  We  may  set  aside  these  peremp- 
tory testimonies,  we  may  believe  that  Tertullian  and 
Eusebius  were  mistaken,  and  that  the  documents  to 
which  they  referred  were  spurious;  but  this  should 
make  us  also  less  certain  about  the  prominent  participa- 
tion of  the  Emperor  in  these  persecutions.  My  own 
belief  is  (and  it  is  a belief  which  could  be  supported  by 
many  critical  arguments),  that  his  share  in  causing 
them  was  almost  infinitesimal.  If  those  who  love  his 
memory  reject  the  evidence  of  Fathers  in  his  favor, 
they  may  be  at  least  permitted  to  withhold  assent  from 
some  of  the  assertions  in  virtue  of  which  he  is  con- 
demned. 

Marcus  in  his  Meditations  alludes  to  the  Christians 
once  only,  and  then  it  is  to  make  a passing  complaint 
of  the  indifference  to  death,  which  appeared  to  him,  as 
it  appeared  to  Epictetus,  to  arise,  not  from  any  noble 
principles,  but  from  mere  obstinacy  and  perversity. 
That  he  shared  the  profound  dislike  with  which 
Christians  were  regarded  is  very  probable.  That  he 
was  a cold-blooded  and  virulent  persecutor  is  utterly 
unlike  his  whole  character,  essentially  at  variance  with 
his  habitual  clemency,  alien  to  the  spirit  which  made 
him  interfere  in  every  possible  instance  to  mitigate  the 
severity  of  legal  punishments,  and  may  in  short  be 
regarded  as  an  assertion  which  is  altogether  false. 
Who  will  believe  that  a man  who,  during  his  reign, 
built  and  dedicated  but  one  single  temple,  and  that  a 
Temple  to  Beneficence ; that  a man  who  so  far  from 
showing  any  jealousy  respecting  foreign  religions 


BY  CANON  FABBAR. 


109 


allowed  honor  to  be  paid  to  them  all ; that  a man 
whose  writings  breathe  on  eveiy  page  the  inmost  spirit 
of  philanthropy  and  tenderness,  went  out  of  his  wa}'’ 
to  join  in  a persecution  of  the  most  innocent,  the 
most  courageous,  and  the  most  inoffensive  of  his 
subjects  ? 

The  true  state  of  the  case  seems  to  have  been  this. 
The  deep  calamities  in  which,  during  the  whole  reign 
of  Marcus,  the  Empire  was  involved,  caused  widespread 
distress,  and  roused  into  peculiar  fury  the  feelings  of 
the  provincials  against  men  whose  atheism  (for  such 
they  considered  it  to  be)  had  kindled  the  anger  of  the 
gods.  This  fury  often  broke  out  into  paroxysms  of 
popular  excitement,  which  none  but  the  firmest-minded 
governors  were  able  to  moderate  or  to  repress.  Marcus, 
when  appealed  to,  simply  let  the  existing  law  take  its 
usual  course.  That  law  was  as  old  as  the  time  of 
Trajan.  The  young  Pliny,  Governor  of  Bithynia,  had 
written  to  ask  Trajan  how  he  was  to  deal  with  the 
Christians,  whose  blamelessness  of  life  he  fully 
admitted,  but  whose  doctrines,  he  said,  had  emptied 
the  temples  of  the  gods,  and  exasperated  their  wor- 
shipers. Trajan,  in  reply,  had  ordered  that  the 
Christians  should  not  be  sought  for,  but  that,  if  they 
were  brought  before  the  governor,  and  proved  to  be 
contumacious  in  refusing  to  adjure  their  religion,  they 
were  then  to  be  put  to  death.  Hadrian  and  Pius  Anto- 
ninus had  continued  the  same  policy,  and  Marcus  Aure- 
lius saw  no  reason  to  alter  it.  But  this  law,  which 
in  quiet  times  might  become  a mere  dead  letter,  might 
at  more  troubled  periods  be  converted  into  a dangerous 
engine  of  persecution,  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  the 
venerable  Poly  carp,  and  in  the  unfortunate  Churches 


110 


ESSAY  ON  MARCUS  AURELIUS. 


of  Lyons  and  Yienne.  The  Pagans  believed  that 
the  reason  why  their  gods  were  smiling  in  secret, — 

“ Looking  over  wasted  lands, 

Blight  and  famine,  plague  and  earthquake,  roaring  deeps  and  fiery 
sands, — 

Clanging  fights,  and  flaming  towns,  and  sinking  ships,  and  praying 
hands, — 

was  the  unbelief  and  impiety  of  these  hated  Galileans, 
causes  of  offence  which  could  only  be  expiated  by  the 
death  of  the  guilt}\  “ Their  enemies,”  says  Tertullian, 
“call  aloud  for  the  blood  of  the  innocent,  alleging  this 
vain  pretext  for  their  hatred,  that  they  believe  the 
Christians  to  be  the  cause  of  every  public  misfortune. 
If  the  Tiber  has  overflowed  its  banks,  or  the  Nile  has 
not  overflowed,  if  heaven  has  refused  its  rain,  if  famine 
or  the  plague  has  spread  its  ravages,  the  cry  is  imme- 
diate, ‘ The  Christians  to  the  lions.’  ” In  the  first 
three  centuries  the  cry  of  “No  Christianity”  became 
at  times  as  brutal,  as  violent,  and  as  unreasoning  as 
the  cry  of  “No  Popery”  has  often  been  in  modern 
days.  It  was  infinitely  less  disgraceful  to  Marcus  to 
lend  his  ear  to  the  one  than  it  has  been  to  some  emi- 
nent modern  statesmen  to  be  carried  away  by  the 
insensate  fury  of  the  other. 

To  v.diat  extent  is  Marcus  Aurelius  to  be  condemned 
for  the  martyrdoms  which  took  place  in  his  reign  ? 
Not,  I think,  heavily  or  indiscriminately,  or  with  vehe- 
ment sweeping  censure.  Common  justice  surely  de- 
mands that  Ave  should  not  confuse  the  present  with  the 
past,  or  pass  judgment  on  the  conduct  of  the  Emperor 
as  though  he  were  living  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
or  as  though  he  had  been  acting  in  full  cognizance  of 
the  Gospels  and  the  stories  of  the  Saints.  Wise  and 


BY  CANON  FABRAB. 


Ill 


good  men  before  him  had,  in  their  haughty  ignorance, 
spoken  of  Christianity  with  execration  and  contempt. 
The  philosophers  who  surrounded  his  throne  treated 
it  with  jealousy  and  aversion.  The  body  of  the  nation 
firmly  believed  the  current  rumors  which  charged  its 
votaries  with  horrible  midnight  assemblies,  rendered 
infamous  by  Thyestian  banquets  and  the  atrocities  of 
nameless  superstitions.  These  foul  calumnies — these 
hideous  charges  of  cannibalism  and  incest — were  sup- 
ported by  the  reiterated  perjury  of  slaves  under  tort- 
ure, which  in  that  age,  as  well  as  long  afterward,  was 
preposterously  regarded  as  a sure  criterion  of  truth. 

Christianity  in  that  day  was  confounded  with  a multi- 
tude of  debased  and  foreign  superstitions;  and  the 
Emperor  in  his  judicial  capacity,  if  he  ever  encountered 
Christians  at  all,  was  far  more  likely  to  encounter 
those  who  were  unworthy  of  the  name,  than  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  meek,  unworldly,  retiring 
virtues  of  the  calmest,  the  holiest,  and  the  best.  When 
we  have  given  their  due  weight  to  considerations  such 
as  these  we  shall  be  ready  to  pardon  Marcus  Aure- 
lius for  having,  in  this  matter,  acted  ignorantly, 
and  to  admit  that  in  persecuting  Christianity  he  may 
most  honestly  have  thought  that  he  was  doing  God 
service.  The  very  sincerity  of  his  belief,  the  conscien- 
tiousness of  his  rule,  the  intensity  of  his  philanthropy, 
the  grandeur  of  his  own  philosophical  tenets,  all  con- 
spired to  make  him  a worse  enemy  of  the  Church  than 
a brutal  Commodus  or  a disgusting  Heliogabalus. 
And  yet  that  there  was  not  in  him  the  propensity 
to  persecute  ; that  these  persecutions  were  for  the  most 
part  spontaneous  and  accidental ; that  they  were  in 
no  measure  due  to  his  direct  instigation,  or  in  special 


112 


S:SSA  T ON  MARCUS  A URELIU8. 


accordance  with  his  desire,  is  clear  from  the  fact  that 
the  mart^a’doms  took  place  in  Gaul  and  Asia  Minor, 
not  in  Rome.  There  must  have  been  hundreds  of 
Christians  in  Rome,  and  under  the  very  eye  of  the 
Emperor;  nay,  there  were  even  multitudes  of 
Christians  in  his  own  army  ; yet  we  never  hear  of  his 
having  molested  any  of  them.  Melito,  Bishop  of 
Sardis,  in  addressing  the  Emperor,  expresses  a doubt 
as  to  whether  he  was  really  aAvare  of  the  manner  in 
which  his  Christian  subjects  were  treated.  Justin 
Martyr,  in  his  Aj)ology,  addresses  him  in  terms  of  per- 
fect confidence  and  deep  respect.  In  short  he  was  in 
this  matter  “ blameless,  but  unfortunate.”  It  is 
painful  to  think  that  the  venerable  Poljxarp  and  the 
thoughtful  Justin  may  have  forfeited  their  lives  for 
their  principles,  not  only  in  the  reign  of  so  good  a 
man,  but  even  by  virtue  of  his  authority ; but  we  must 
be  very  uncharitable  or  very  unimaginative  if  we  can 
not  readily  believe  that,  though  they  had  received  the 
crown  of  martyrdom  from  his  hands,  the  redeemed 
spirits  of  those  great  martyrs  would  have  been  the 
first  to  welcome  this  holiest  of  the  heathen  into  the 
]iresence  of  a Saviour  whose  Church  he  persecuted,  but 
to  whose  indwelling  Spirit  his  virtues  were  due,  whom 
ignorantly  and  unconsciously  he  worshiped,  and 
whom,  had  he  ever  heard  of  Him  and  known  Him,  he 
would  have  loved  in  his  heart  and  glorified  by  the  con- 
sistency of  his  noble  and  stainless  life. 

The  persecution  of  the  Churches  in  Lyons  and 
Vienne  happened  in  a.  d.  177.  Shortly  after  this 
period  fresh  wars  recalled  the  Emperor  to  the  Horth. 
It  is  said  that,  in  despair  of  ever  seeing  him  again,  the 
chief  men  of  Rome  entreated  him  to  address  them  his 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


113 


farewell  admonitions,  and  that  for  three  days  he  dis- 
coursed to  them  on  philosophical  questions.  When  he 
arrived  at  the  seat  of  war,  victory  again  crowned  his 
arms.  But  Marcus  was  now  getting  old,  and  he  was 
worn  out  with  the  toils,  trials,  and  travels  of  his  long 
and  weary  life.  He  sunk  under  mental  anxieties  and 
bodily  fatigues,  and  after  a brief  illness  died  in  Pan- 
nonia,  either  at  Vienna  or  Sirmium,  on  March  17,  a.  d. 
180,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age  and  the 
twentieth  of  his  reign. 

Death  to  him  was  no  calamit3^  He  was  sadly  aware 
that  “ there  is  no  man  so  fortunate  that  there  shall 
not  be  by  him  when  he  is  dying  some  who  are  pleased 
with  what  is  going  to  happen.  Suppose  that  he  was  a 
good  and  wise  man,  will  there  not  be  at  least  some  one 
to  say  of  him,  ‘ Let  us  at  last  breathe  freely,  being 
relieved  from  this  school-master.  It  is  true  that  he 
was  harsh  to  none  of  us,  but  I perceive  that  he  tacitly 
condemns  us.’  . . . Thou  wilt  consider  this  when 

thou  art  dying,  and  will  depart  more  contentedly  by 
refiecting  thus : ‘ I am  going  away /Vum  a life  in  which 
even  my  associates.,  on  hehalf  of  whom  I have  striven., 
and  cared,  and  prayed  so  much,  themselves  wish  me  to 
depart,  hoping  perchance  to  get  some  little  advantage 
by  it.’  Why  then  should  a man  cling  to  a longer  stay 
here  % Do  not,  however,  for  this  reason  go  away  less 
hindly  disposed  to  them,  hut  preserving  thy  own  char- 
acter, and  continuing  friendly,  and  benevolent,  and 
hind.'’  And  dreading  death  far  less  than  he  dreaded 
any  departure  from  the  laws  of  virtue,  he  exclaims, 
“ Come  quickly,  O Death,  for  fear  that  at  last  I should 
forget  myself!”  This  utterance  has  been  well  com- 
pared to  the  language  which  Bossuet  put  into  the 


114 


SSSAY  ON  MARCUS  ATTRELWS. 


montli  of  a Christian  soul ; “ O Death,  th  ou  dost  not 

trouble  11137-  designs,  thou  accomplishest  them.  Haste, 
then,  O favorable  Death ! . . . N%mc  DimittisN 

A nobler,  a gentler,  a purer,  a sweeter  soul — a soul 
less  elated  by  prosperity,  or  more  constant  in  adver- 
sity— a soul  more  fitted  by  virtue,  and  chastity,  and 
self-denial  to  enter  into  the  eternal  peace,  never  passed 
into  the  presence  of  its  Heavenly  Father.  We  are  not 
surprised  that  all,  whose  means  permitted  it,  possessed 
themselves  of  his  statues,  and  that  they  were  to  be 
seen  for  vears  afterward  among  the  household  gods  of 
heathen  families,  who  felt  themselves  more  hopeful 
and  more  happy  from  the  glorious  sense  of  possibility 
which  was  inspired  by  the  memory  of  one  who,  in  the 
midst  of  difiiculties,  and  breathing  an  atmosphere 
heavy  with  corruption,  }^et  showed  himself  so  wise,  so 
great,  so  good  a man. 

0 framed  for  nobler  times  and  calmer  beartsl 
0 studious  thinker,  eloquent  for  truth! 

Philosopher,  despising  wealth  and  death, 

But  patient,  childlike,  full  of  life  and  lovel 


BT  CANON  FARBAR. 


115 


CHAPTER  lY. 

THE  “meditations”  OE  MAKCUS  AIJHELIUS. 

Empeeok  as  he  was,  Marcus  Aurelius  found  himself 
in  a hollow  and  troublous  world ; but  he  did  not  give 
himself  up  to  idle  regret  or  querulous  lamentations. 
If  these  sorrows  and  perturbations  came  from  the 
gods,  he  kissed  the  hand  that  smote  him ; “ he  deliv- 
ered up  his  broken  sword  to  Fate  the  conquerer  with 
a humble  and  a manly  heart.”  In  any  case  he  had 
duties  to  do,  and  he  set  himself  to  perform  them  with 
a quiet  heroism  — zealously,  conscientiously,  even 
cheerfully. 

The  principles  of  the  Emperor  are  not  reducible  to 
the  hard  and  definite  lines  of  a philosophic  system. 
But  the  great  laws  which  guided  his  actions  and 
molded  his  views  of  life  were  few  and  simple,  and  in 
his  book  of  Meditations,  which  is  merely  his  private 
diary  written  to  relieve  his  mind  amid  all  the  trials  of 
war  and  government,  he  recurs  to  them  again  and 
again.  “ Plays,  war,  astonishment,  torpor,  slavery,” 
he  says  to  himself,  “ will  wipe  out  those  holy  principles 
of  thine ;”  and  this  is  why  he  committed  those  princi- 
ples to  writing.  Some  of  these  I have  already  adduced, 
and  others  I proceed  to  quote,  availing  myself,  as 
before,  of  the  beautiful  and  scholar-like  translation  of 
Mr.  George  Long. 

All  pain,  and  misfortune,  and  ugliness  seemed  to  the 


116 


£:SSA  Y ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


Emperor  to  be  most  wisely  regarded  under  a threefold 
aspect,  namely,  if  considered  in  reference  to  the  gods, 
as  being  due  to  laws  beyond  their  control ; if  consid- 
ered with  reference  to  the  nature  of  things,  as  being 
subservient  and  necessary;  and  if  considered  with 
reference  to  ourselves,  as  being  dependent  on  the 
amount  of  indifference  and  fortitude  with  which  we 
endure  them. 

The  following  passages  will  elucidate  these  points  of 
view : 

“The  intelligence  of  the  Universe  is  social.  Accord- 
ingly it  has  made  the  inferior  things  for  the  sake  of 
the  superior,  and  it  has  fitted  the  superior  to  one 
another”  (v.  30). 

“ Things  do  not  touch  the  soul,  for  they  are  eternal, 
and  remain  immovable;  but  our  perturbations  come 
only  from  the  opinion  which  is  within.  . . . The 

Universe  is  Transformation ; life  is  oj>inion^^  (iv.  3). 

“ To  the  jaundiced  honey  tastes  bitter,  and  to  those 
bitten  by  mad  dogs  water  causes  fear ; and  to  little 
children  the  ball  is  a fine  thing.  Why,  then,  am  I 
angry?  Dost  thou  think  that  a false  opinion  has  less 
power  than  the  bile  in  the  jaundiced,  or  the  poison  in 
him  who  is  bitten  by  a mad  dog”  (vi.  51)  ? 

“ How  easy  it  is  to  repel  and  to  wipe  away  every 
impression  which  is  troublesome  and  unsuitable,  and 
immediately  to  be  at  tranquillity  ” (v.  2). 

The  passages  in  which  Marcus  speaks  of  evil  as  a 
relative  thing — as  being  good  in  the  making — the 
unripe  and  bitter  bud  of  that  which  shall  be  hereafter 
a beautiful  flower — although  not  expressed  with  per- 
fect clearness,  yet  indicate  his  belief  that  our  view  of 
evil  things  rises  in  great  measure  from  our  inability  to 


BY  CANON  NABBAB. 


m 


perceive  the  great  whole  of  which  they  are  but  sub- 
servient parts. 

“ All  things,”  he  says  “ come  from  that  universal 
ruling  power,  either  directly  or  by  way  of  consequence. 
And  accordingly  the  lion's  gaping  jaws,  and  that  which 
is  poisonous,  and  every  hurtftd  thing,  as  a thorn,  as 
mud,  are  after-products  of  the  grand  and  beautiful. 
Do  not  therefore  imagine  that  they  are  of  another 
kind  from  that  which  thou  dost  venerate,  but  form  a 
just  opinion  of  the  source  of  all.” 

In  another  curious  passage  he  says  that  all  things 
which  are  natural  and  congruent  with  the  causes  which 
produce  them  have  a certain  beauty  and  attractiveness 
of  their  own  ; for  instance,  the  splittings  and  corruga- 
tions on  the  surface  of  bread  when  it  has  been  baked. 
“ And  again,  figs  when  they  are  quite  ripe  gape  open ; 
and  in  the  ripe  olives  the  very  circumstances  of  their 
being  near  to  rottenness  adds  a peculiar  beauty  to  the 
fruit.  And  the  ears  of  corn  bending  down,  and  the 
lion's  eyebrows,  and  the  foam  which  flows  from  the 
mouth  of  wild  boars,  and  many  other  things — though 
they  are  far  from  being  beautiful,  if  a man  should  ex- 
amine them  severally — still,  because  they  are  conse- 
quent upon  the  things  which  are  formed  by  nature, 
lielp  to  adorn  them,  and  they  please  the  mind ; so  that 
if  a man  should  have  a feeling  and  deeper  insight 
about  the  things  found  in  the  universe  there  is  hardly 
one  of  those  which  follow  by  way  of  conseguence  which 
will  not  seem  to  him  to  be  in  a manner  disposed  so  as 
to  give  pleasure  ” (iv.  2). 

This  congruity  to  nature — the  following  of  nature, 
and  obedience  to  all  her  laws — is  the  key-formula  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Eoman  Stoics. 


118  ESS  A T ON  MARCUS  A URELl  US. 

“ Everything  which  is  in  any  way  beautiful  is  beau- 
ful  in  itself,  and  terminates  in  itself,  not  having  praise 
as  part  of  itself.  Neither  worse,  then,  nor  better  is  a 
thing  made  by  being  praised  ...  Is  such  a thing 
as  cm  emerald  made  worse  them  it  was,  if  it  is  not 
praised  ? or  gold,  ivory,  purple,  a lyre,  a little  Tcnife,  a 
flower,  a shruh  r (iv.  20.) 

“ Everything  harmonizes  with  me  which  is  harmoni- 
ous to  thee,  O Universe.  Nothing  for  me  is  too  early 
nor  too  late,  which  is  in  due  time  for  thee.  Every- 
thing is  fruit  to  me  which  thy  seasons  bring,  O Nature ! 
from  thee  are  all  things,  in  thee  are  all  things,  to  thee 
all  things  return.  The  poet  says,  Dear  city  of  Cecrops  / 
auid  wilt  not  thou  say.  Dear  city  of  God  T’’  (iv.  23.) 

“Willingly  give  thyself  up  to  fate,  allowing  her 
to  spin  thy  thread  into  whatever  thing  she  pleases  ” 
(iv.  34). 

And  here,  in  a very  small  matter — getting  out  of 
bed  in  a morning — is  one  practical  application  of  the 
formula : 

“In  the  morning  when  thou  risest  unwillingly,  let 
these  thoughts  be  present,  ‘ I am  rising  to  the  work  of 
a human  being.  TUAy,  then,  am  I dissatisfied  if  I am 
going  to  do  the  things  for  which  I exist,  and  for  which 
I was  brought  into  the  world  ? Or  have  I been  made 
for  this,  to  lie  in  the  bedclothes  and  keep  myself 
warm  V ‘ But  this  is  more  pleasant.’  Dost  thou  exist, 
then,  to  take  thy  pleasure,  and  not  for  action  or  exer- 
tion f Dost  thou  not  see  the  little  plants,  the  little 
birds,  the  ants,  the  spiders,  the  bees,  working  together 
to  put  in  order  their  several  parts  of  the  universe? 
And  art  thou  unwilling  to  do  the  work  of  a human 
being,  and  dost  thou  not  make  haste  to  do  that  which 


BY  CANON  FARRAR. 


119 


is  according  to  thy  nature  ?”  (v.  1.)  [“  Go  to  the  ant, 
thou  sluggard ; consider  her  ways,  and  be  wise !”] 

The  same  principle,  that  Kature  has  assigned  to  us 
our  proper  place — that  a task  has  been  given  us  to 
perform,  and  that  our  only  care  should  be  to  perform 
it  aright,  for  the  blessing  of  the  great  Whole  of  which 
we  are  but  insignificant  parts — dominates  through  the 
admirable  precepts  which  the  Emperor  lays  down  for 
the  regulation  of  our  conduct  toward  others.  Some 
men,  he  says,  do  benefits  to  others  only  because  they 
expect  a return ; some  men  even,  if  they  do  not 
demand  any  return,  are  not  forgetful  that  they  have 
rendered  a benefit ; but  others  do  not  even  know  what 
they  have  done,  but  are  like  a vine  which  has  produced 
grapes.,  and  seeks  for  nothing  more  after  it  has  pro- 
duced its  proper  fruit.  So  we  ought  to  do  good  to 
others  as  simple  and  as  naturally  as  a horse  runs,  or  a 
bee  makes  honey,  or  a vine  bears  grapes,  season  after 
season,  without  thinking  of  the  grapes  which  it  has 
borne.  And  in  another  passage,  “What  more  dost 
thou  want  when  thou  hast  done  a service  to  another  ? 
Art  thou  not  content  to  have  done  an  act  conformable 
to  thy  nature,  and  must  thou  seek  to  be  paid  for  it, 
just  as  if  the  eye  demanded  a reward  for  seeing,  or  the 
feet  for  walking  ?” 

“ Judge  every  word  and  deed  which  is  according  to 
nature  to  be  fit  for  thee,  and  be  not  diverted  by  the 
blame  which  follows  . . . but  if  a thing  is  good  to 

be  done  or  said,  do  not  consider  it  unworthy  of  thee  ” 

(v.  3).  ^ ^ 

Sometimes,  indeed,  Marcus  Aurelius  wavers.  The 
evils  of  life  overpower  him.  “ Such  as  bathing  appears 
to  thee,”  he  says,  “ oil,  sweat,  dirt,  filthy  water,  all 


120 


ESSAY  ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


things  disgusting — so  is  every  ^art  of  life  and  every- 
thing ” (viii.  24) ; and  again  : “ Of  human  life  the  time 
is  a point,  and  the  substance  is  in  a flux,  and  the  per- 
ce])tion  dull,  and  the  composition  of  the  whole  body 
subject  to  putrefaction,  and  the  soul  a whirl,  and 
fortune  hard  to  divine,  and  fame  a thing  devoid  of 
judgment.”  But  more  often  he  retains  his  perfect 
tranquillity,  and  says,  “ Either  thou  livest  here,  and 
hast  already  accustomed  thyself  to  it,  or  thou  art  going 
away,  and  this  was  thine  own  will ; or  thou  art  dying, 
and  hast  discharged  thy  duty.  But  besides  these  things 
there  is  nothing.  Be  of  good  cheer,  then  ” (x.  22). 
“ Take  me,  and  cast  me  where  thou  wilt,  for  then  I 
shall  keep  my  divine  part  tranquil,  that  is,  content,  if 
it  can  feel  and  act  conformably  to  its  proper  constitu- 
tion ” (viii.  45). 

There  is  something  delightful  in  the  fact  that  even 
in  the  Stoic  Philosophy  there  was  some  comfort  to 
keep  men  from  despair.  To  a holy  and  scrupulous 
conscience  like  that  of  Marcus,  there  would  have  been 
an  inestimable  preciousness  in  the  Christian  doctrine 
of  the  “ forgiveness  of  the  sins.”  Of  that  divine 
mercy — of  that  sin-uncreating  power — the  ancient 
world  knew  nothing ; but  in  Marcus  we  find  some  dim 
and  faint  adumbration  of  the  doctrine,  expressed  in  a 
manner  which  might  at  least  breathe  calm  into  the 
spirit  of  the  philosopher,  though  it  could  never  reach 
the  hearts  of  the  suifering  multitude.  For  “ suppose,” 
he  says,  “that  thou  hast  detached  thyself  from  the 
natural  unity — for  thou  wast  made  by  nature  a part, 
but  now  hast  cut  th}-self  off — yet  here  is  the  beautiful 
provision  that  it  is  in  thy  power  again  to  unite  thyself. 
God  has  allowed  this  to  no  other  part — after  it  has 


BY  CANON  FABBAR. 


121 


been  separated  and  cut  asunder,  to  come  together 
again.  But  consider  the  goodness  with  which  He  has 
privileged  man  / for  He  has  put  it  in  his  power ^ when 
he  has  heen  separated^  to  return  and  to  he  reimited,  and 
to  resume  his  place P And  elsewhere  he  says,  “ If  you 
cannot  maintain  a true  and  magnanimous  character,  go 
courageously  into  some  corner  where  you  can  main- 
tain them ; or  if  even  there  you  fail,  depart  at  once 
from  life,  not  with  passion,  but  with  modest  and 
simple  freedom — which  will  be  to  have  done  at  least 
one  laudable  act.”  Sad  that  even  to  Marcus  Aurelius 
death  should  have  seemed  the  only  refuge  from  the 
despair  of  ultimal  e failure  in  the  struggle  to  be  wise 
and  good ! 

Marcus  valued  temperance  and  self-denial  as  being 
the  best  means  of  keeping  his  heart  strong  and  pure ; 
but  we  are  glad  to  learn  he  did  not  value  the  rigors  of 
asceticism.  Life  brought  with  it  enough,  and  more 
than  enough,  of  antagonism  to  brace  his  nerves; 
enough,  and  more  than  enough,  of  the  rough  wind  of 
adversity  in  his  face  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  add 
more  by  his  own  actions.  “ It  is  not  fit,”  he  says, 
“that  I should  give  myself  pain,  for  I have  never 
intentionally  given  pain  even  to  another  ” (viii.  42). 

It  was  a commonplace  of  ancient  philosophy  that 
the  life  of  the  wise  man  should  be  a contemplation  of, 
and  a preparation  for,  death.  It  certainly  was  so  with 
Marcus  Aurelius.  The  thoughts  of  the  nothingness  of 
man,  and  of  that  great  sea  of  oblivion  Avhich  shall 
hereafter  swallow  up  all  that  he  is  and  does,  are  ever 
present  to  his  mind ; they  are  thoughts  to  which  he 
recurs  more  constantly  than  any  other,  and  from  which 
he  always  draws  the  same  moral  lesson. 


122 


ESSA  Y ON  MARCUS  A UBELIU8. 


“ Since  it  is  possible  that  thou  mayest  depart  from 
life  this  very  moment,  regulate  every  act  and  thought 
accordingly.  . . . Death  certainljrj  and  life,  honor 

and  dishonor,  pain  and  pleasure,  all  these  things  happen 
equally  to  good  men  and  bad,  being  things  whicli 
make  us  neither  better  nor  worse.  Therefore  they  are 
neither  good  nor  evil”  (ii.  11). 

Elsewhere  he  says  that  Hippocrates  cured  diseases 
and  died;  and  the  Chaldseans  foretold  the  future  and 
died  ; and  Alexander,  and  Pompey,  and  Caesar  killed 
thousands,  and  then  died  ; and  lice  destroyed  Demo- 
critus, and  other  lice  killed  Socrates ; and  Augustus, 
and  his  wife,  and  daughter,  and  all  his  descendants, 
and  all  his  ancestors,  are  dead ; and  Y espasian  and  all 
his  Court,  and  all  who  in  his  day  feasted,  and  married, 
and  were  sick,  and  chaffered,  and  fought,  and  flattered, 
and  plotted,  and  grumbled,  and  wished  other  people  to 
die,  and  pined  to  become  kings  or  consuls,  are  dead ; 
and  all  the  idle  people  who  are  doing  the  same  things 
now  are  doomed  to  die;  and  all  human  things  are 
smoke,  and  nothing  at  all ; and  it  is  not  for  us,  but  for 
the  gods,  to  settle  whether  we  ]flay  the  play  out,  or 
only  a part  of  it.  “ There  are  many  grains  of  frankin- 
cense on  the  same  altar  ; one  falls  before,  another  falls 
after  / but  it  makes  no  differenced  And  the  moral  of 
all  these  thoughts  is,  “ Death  hangs  over  thee  while 
thou  livest;  while  it  is  in  thy  power  be  good  ” (iv.  17). 
“Thou  hast  embarked,  thou  hast  made  the  voyage, 
thou  hast  come  to  shore;  get  out.  If,  indeed,  to 
another  life  there  is  no  want  of  gods,  not  even  there. 
But  if  to  a state  without  sensation,  thou  wilt  cease  to 
be  held  by  jmins  and  pleasures”  (iii.  3). 

Nor  was  Marcus  at  all  comforted  under  present 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


123 


annoyances  by  the  thought  of  posthumous  fame. 
“How  ephemeral  and  worthless  human  things  are,” 
he  says,  “and  what  was  yesterday  a little  mucus,  to- 
morrow will  be  a mummy  or  ashes.”  “Many  who 
are  now  praising  thee,  will  very  soon  blame  thee,  and 
neither  a posthumous  name  is  of  any  value,  nor  repu- 
tation, nor  anything  else.”  What  has  become  of  all 
great  and  famous  men,  and  all  they  desired,  and  all 
they  loved  ? They  are  “ smoke,  and  ash,  and  a tale, 
or  not  even  a tale.”  After  all  their  rages  and  envy- 
ings,  men  are  stretched  out  quiet  and  dead  at  last. 
Soon  thou  wilt  have  forgotten  all,  and  soon  all  wdll 
have  forgotten  thee.  But  here,  again,  after  such 
thoughts,  the  same  moral  is  always  introduced  again  : 
“ Pass  then  through  the  little  space  of  time  conform- 
ably to  nature,  and  end  the  journey  in  content,  jtist  as 
an  olive  falls  of  when  it  is  rijye,  hlessing  nature  who 
^produced  it,  and  thanking  the  tree  on  which  it  grew.’’’’ 
“ One  thing  only  troubles  me,  lest  I should  do  some- 
thing which  the  constitution  of  man  does  not  allow, 
or  in  the  way  which  it  does  not  allow,  or  wdiat  it  does 
not  allow  now.” 

To  quote  the  thoughts  of  Marcus  Aurelius  is  to  me 
a fascinating  task.  But  I have  already  let  him  speak 
so  largely  for  himself  that  by  this  time  the  reader  will 
have  some  conception  of  his  leading  motives.  It  only 
remains  to  adduce  a few  more  of  the  weighty  and 
golden  sentences  in  which  he  lays  down  his  rule  of  life. 

“ To  say  all  in  a word,  ever^Thing  which  belongs  to 
the  body  is  a stream,  and  what  belongs  to  the  soul  is 
a dream  and  vapor;  and  life  is  a warfare,  and  a 
stranger’s  sojourn,  and  after  fame  is  oblivion.  "What, 
then,  is  that  which  is  able  to  enrich  a man?  One 


124 


ESSA  r ON  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


thing,  and  only  one — philosophy.  But  this  consists  in 
keeping  the  guardian  spirit  within  a man  free  from 
violence  and  unharmed,  superior  to  pains  and  pleas- 
ures, without  a purjjose,  nor  yet  falsely, 

and  with  h ypocrisy  . . . accepting  all  that  happens 

and  all  that  is  allotted  . . and  finally  waiting 

for  death  with  a cheerful  mind'’’’  (ii.  17). 

“If  thou  findest  in  human  life  anything  better  than 
justice,  truth,  temperance,  fortitude,  and,  in  a word, 
than  thine  own  soul’s  satisfaction  in  the  things  which 
;t  enables  thee  to  do  according  to  right  reason,  and  in 
the  condition  that  is  assigned  to  thee  without  thy  own 
choice ; if,  I say,  thou  seest  anything  better  than  this, 
turn  to  it  with  all  thy  soul,  and  enjoy  that  which  thou 
hast  found  to  be  the  best.  But  ...  if  thou  find- 
est everything  else  smaller  and  of  less  value  than  this, 
give  place  to  nothing  else.  . . . Simply  and  freely 

choose  the  better,  and  hold  to  it  ” (iii.  6). 

“ Body,  soul,  intelligence : to  the  body  belong  sensa- 
tions, to  the  soul  appetites,  to  the  intelligence  princi- 
ples.” To  be  impressed  by  the  senses  is  peculiar  to 
animals ; to  be  pulled  by  the  strings  of  desire  belongs 
to  effeminate  men,  and  to  men  like  Phalaris  or  Nero; 
to  be  guided  only  by  intelligence  belongs  to  atheists 
and  traitors,  and  “men  who  do  their  impure  deeds 
when  they  have  shut  the  doors.  . . . There 

remains  that  Avhich  is  peculiar  to  the  good  man,  to  he 
fleased  and  content  with  what  happens,  and  with  the 
thread  which  is  spun  for  him ; and  not  to  defile  the 
divinity  which  is  planted  in  his  breast,  nor  disturb  it 
by  a crowd  of  images  ; but  to  preserve  it  tranquil, 
following  it  obediently  as  a god,  neither  saying  any- 
thing contrary  to  truth,  nor  doing  anything  contrary 
to  justice  ” (iii.  16). 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


125 


“Men  seek  retreats  for  themselves,  houses  in  the 
country,  sea-shores,  and  mountains,  and  thou  too  art 
wont  to  desire  such  things  very  much.  But  this  is 
altogether  a mark  of  the  commonest  sort  of  men,  for 
it  is  in  thy  power  whenever  thou  shalt  chose  to  retire 
into  thyself.  For  nowhere  either  tcith  more  quiet  or 
with  more  freedom  does  a man  retire  than  into  his  own 
soul,  particularly  when  he  has  within  him  such 
thoughts  that  by  looking  into  them  he  is  immediately 
in  perfect  tranquillity,  which  is  nothing  else  than  the 
good  ordering  of  the  mind  ” (iv.  3). 

“Unhappy  am  I,  because  this  has  happened  to  me? 
Uot  so,  but  happ3^  am  I though  this  has  happened  to 
me,  because  I continue  free  from  pain ; neither 
crushed  by  the  present,  nor  fearing  the  future” 
(iv.  19). 

It  is  just  possible  that  in  some  of  these  passages 
some  readers  may  detect  a trace  of  painful  self-con- 
sciousness, and  imagine  that  they  detect  a little  grain 
of  self-complacence.  Something  of  self  consciousness 
is  perhaps  inevitable  in  the  diary  and  examination  of 
his  own  conscience  by  one  who  sat  on  such  a lonely 
height ; but  self-complacency  there  is  none.  Uay,  there 
is  sometimes  even  a cruel  sternness  in  the  Avay  in  which 
the  Emperor  speaks  of  his  own  self.  He  certainly 
dealt  not  with  himself  in  the  manner  of  a dissembler 
with  God.  “ When,”  he  says  (x.  8),  “ thou  hast  assumed 
the  names  of  a man  who  is  good,  modest,  rational, 
magnanimous,  cling  to  those  names ; and  if  thou 
shouldst  lose  them,  quickly  return  to  them.  . • . 

For  to  continue  to  he  such  as  thou  hast  hitherto  been,  and 
to  be  torn  in  pieces,  and  defiled  in  such  a life,  is  the 
character  of  a very  stupid  man,  and  one  over-fond  of 


126 


BSSA  T OJSr  MARCUS  A URELIUS. 


his  life,  and  like  those  half-devoured  fighters  with  vnld 
Jjeasts,  who,  though  covered  with  wounds  and  gore,  still 
entreat  to  he  hejyt  till  the  following  day,  though  they 
loill  he  exposed  in  the  same  state  to  the  same  claws  and 
hites.  Therefore  fix  thyself  in  the  possession  of  these 
fe\v  names:  and  if  thou  art  able  to  abide  in  them, 
abide  as  if  thou  were  removed  to  the  Islands  of  the 
Blest.”  Alas!  to  Aurelius,  in  this  life,  the  Islands  of 
the  Blest  were  very  far  away.  Heathen  philosophy 
Avas  exalted  and  eloquent,  but  all  its  votaries  Avere  sad ; 
to  “the  peace  of  God,  Avhich  passeth  all  understaird- 
ins:,”  it  Avas  not  given  them  to  attain.  We  see  Marcus 
“ Avise,  self  -governed,  tender,  thankful,  blameless,”  says 
Mr.  Arnold,  “ yet  with  all  this  agitated,  stretching  out 
his  arms  for  something  beyond — tendentemgue  manue 
riyxe  ulterioris  amore.’’'’ 

I will  quote,  in  conclusion,  but  three  short  precepts  : 

“ Be  cheerful,  and  seek  not  external  help,  nor  the 
tranquillity  Avhich  others  giAm.  A man  must  stand 
erect,  not  he  kept  erect  hy  others’’’’  (iv.  5). 

“ Be  like  the  promontory  aga  ’inst  which  the  waves  con- 
tinued,ly  break,  hut  it  stands  firm  and  tames  the  fury  of 
the  water  around  it  ” (iv.  49). 

This  comparison  has  been  used  many  a time  since 
the  days  of  Marcus  Aurelius.  The  reader  will  at  once 
recall  Goldsmith’s  famous  lines : 

“ As  some  tall  cliff  that  rears  its  awful  form, 

Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm. 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread. 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head.” 

“ Short  is  the  little  that  remains  to  thee  of  life. 
Live  as  on  a mountain.  For  it  makes  no  difference 
Avhetlier  a man  lives  there  or  here,  if  he  lives  every- 


BT  CANON  FARRAR. 


m 


where  in  the  Avorld  as  in  a civil  community.  Let  men 
see,  let  them  know  a real  man  who  lives  as  he  was 
meant  to  live.  If  they  cannot  endure  him,  let  them 
kiU  him.  For  that  is  better  than  to  live  as  men  do  ” 
(x.  15). 

Such  were  some  of  the  thoughts  which  Marcus 
Aurelius  wrote  in  his  diary  after  days  of  battle  with 
the  Quadi,  and  the  Marcomanni,  and  the  Sarmatge. 
Isolated  from  others  no  less  by  moral  grandeur  than 
by  the  supremacy  of  his  sovereign  rank,  he  sought  the 
society  of  his  own  noble  soul.  I sometimes  imagine 
that  I see  him  seated  on  the  borders  of  some  gloomy 
Pannonian  forest  or  Hungarian  marsh  ; through  the 
darkness  the  watch-fires  of  the  enemy  gleam  in  the  dis- 
tance; but  both  among  them,  and  in  the  camp  around 
him,  every  sound  is  hushed,  except  the  tread  of  the 
sentinel  outside  the  imperial  tent ; and  in  that  tent 
long  after  midnight  sits  the  patient  Emperor  by  the 
light  of  his  solitary  lamp,  and  ever  and  anon,  amid  his 
lonely  musings,  he  pauses  to  Avrite  doAAm  the  pure  and 
holy  thoughts  Avhich  shall  better  enable  him,  even  in  a 
Roman  palace,  even  on  barbarian  battle-fields,  daily  to 
tolerate  the  meanness  and  the  malignity  of  the  men 
around  him  ; daily  to  amend  his  own  shortcomings, 
and,  as  the  sun  of  earthly  life  begins  to  set,  daily  to 
draAv  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  Eternal  Light.  And 
Avhen  I thus  think  of  him,  I knoAV  not  Avhether  the 
Avhole  of  heathen  antiquity,  out  of  its  gallery  of  stately 
and  royal  figures,  can  furnish  a nobler,  or  purer,  or 
more  loA’^able  picture  than  that  of  this  croAvned 
philosopher  and  laurelled  hero,  Avho  Avas  yet  one  of 
the  humblest  and  one  of  the  most  enlightened  of  all 
ancient  “ Seekers  after  God.” 


the  meditations 


OF 


Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 


Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus, 


I. 

From  my  grandfather  Yerus* * * §  [I  learned]  good 
morals  and  the  goverment  of  my  temper. 

2.  From  the  reputation  and  remembrance  of  my 
father,];  modesty  and  a manly  character. 

3.  From  my  mother, § piety  and  beneficence,  and 
abstinence,  not  only  from  evil  deeds,  but  even  from 
evil  thoughts;  and  further  simplicity  in  iny  way  of 
living,  far  removed  from  the  habits  of  the  rich. 

4.  From  my  great-grandfather,!  not  to  have  fre- 
quented public  schools,  and  to  have  had  good  teachers 
at  home,  and  to  know  that  on  such  things  a man  should 
spend  liberally. 

* Annius  Verus  was  liis  grandfather’s  name.  There  is  no  verb  in 
this  section  connected  with  the  word  “from,”  nor  in  the  following 
sections  of  this  book;  and  it  is  not  quite  certain  what  verb  should  he 
supplied.  What  I have  added  may  express  the  meaning  here,  though 
there  are  sections  which  it  will  not  fit.  If  he  does  not  mean  to  say 
that  he  learned  of  these  good  things  from  the  several  persons  whom 
he  mentions,  he  means  that  he  observed  certain  good  qualities  in 
them,  or  received  certain  benefits  from  them,  and  it  is  implied  that 
he  was  the  better  for  it,  or  at  least  might  have  been;  for  it  would  be 

a mistake  to  understand  Marcus  as  saying  that  he  possessed  all  the 
virtues  which  he  observed  in  his  kinsmen  and  teachers. 

:j:His  father’s  name  was  Annius  Verus. 

§ His  mother  was  Domitia  Calvilla,  named  also  Lucilla. 

I Perhaps  his  mother’s  grandfather,  Catilius  Severus. 


133 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


5.  From  my  goveimor,  to  be  neither  of  the  green  nor 
of  the  blue  party  at  the  games  in  the  Circus,  nor  a 
partizan  either  of  the  Parmularius  or  the  Scutarius  at 
the  gladiators’  fights ; from  him  too  I learned  endurance 
of  labor,  and  to  want  little,  and  to  work  with  my  own 
hands,  and  not  to  meddle  with  other  people’s  affairs, 
and  not  to  be  ready  to  listen  to  slander. 

6.  From  Diognetus,*  not  to  busy  myself  about 
trifling  things,  and  not  to  give  credit  to  what  was  said 
by  miracle- workers  and  jugglers  about  incantations 
and  the  driving  away  of  demons  and  such  things ; and 
not  to  breed  quails  [for  fighting],  nor  to  give  myself  up 
passionately  to  such  things ; and  to  endure  freedom  of 
speech ; and  to  have  become  intimate  with  philosophy ; 
and  to  have  been  a hearer,  first  of  Bacchius,  then  of 
Tandasis  and  Marcianus ; and  to  have  written  dialogues 
in  my  youth ; and  to  have  desired  a plank  bed  and 
skin,  and  whatever  else  of  the  kind  belongs  to  the 
Grecian  discipline. 

7.  From  Rusticusj;  I received  the  impression  that  my 
character  required  improvement  and  discipline ; and 
from  him  I learned  not  to  be  led  astray  to  sophistic 
emulation,  nor  to  writing  on  speculative  matters,  nor 

* In  the  works  of  J ustinus  there  is  printed  a letter  to  one 
Diognetus,  whom  the  writer  names  “most  excellent.”  He  was  a 
Gentile,  but  he  wished  very  much  to  know  what  the  religion  of  the 
Christians  was,  what  God  they  worshipped,  and  how  this  worship 
made  them  despise  the  world  and  death,  and  neither  believe  in  the 
gods  of  the  Greeks  nor  observe  the  superstition  of  the  Jews  ; and 
what  was  this  love  to  one  another  which  they  had,  and  why  this  new 
kind  of  religion  was  introduced  now  and  not  before.  My  friend,  Mr. 
Jenkins,  rector  of  Lyminge  in  Kent,  has  suggested  to  me  that  this 
Diognetus  may  have  been  the  tutor  of  M.  Antoninus. 

Q.  Junius  Rusticus  was  a Stoic  philosopher,  whom  Antoninus 
valued  highly,  and  often  took  his  advice.  (Capitol.  M.  Antonin,  iii.) 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


133 


to  delivering  little  hortatory  orations,  nor  to  showing 
myself  off  as  a man  who  practices  much  disciphne,  or 
does  benevolent  acts  in  order  to  make  a display ; and 
to  abstain  from  rhetoric,  and  poetry,  and  fine  writing ; 
and  not  to  walk  about  in  the  house  in  my  outdoor 
dress,  nor  to  do  other  things  of  the  kind ; and  to  write 
my  letters  with  simphcity,  like  the  letter  which 
Eusticus  wrote  from  Sinuessa  to  my  mother ; and  with 
respect  to  those  who  have  offended  me  by  words,  or 
done  me  wrong,  to  be  easily  disposed  to  be  pacified  and 
reconciled,  as  soon  as  they  have  shown  a readiness  to 
be  reconciled ; and  to  read  carefully,  and  not  to  be 
satisfied  with  a superficial  understanding  of  a book ; 
nor  hastily  to  give  my  assent  to  those  who  talk  over- 
much ; and  I am  indebted  to  him  for  being  acquainted 
with  the  discourses  of  Epictetus,  which  he  communi- 
cated to  me  out  of  his  own  collection. 

8.  From  Apollonius*  I learned  freedom  of  will  and 
undeviating  steadiness  of  purpose;  and  to  look  to 
nothing  else,  not  even  for  a moment,  except  to  reason ; 
and  to  be  always  the  same,  in  sharp  pains,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  loss  of  a child,  and  in  long  illness ; and 
to  see  clearly  in  a living  example  that  the  same  man 
can  be  both  most  resolute  and  yielding,  and  not  peevish 
in  giving  his  instruction ; and  to  have  had  before  my 
eyes  a man  who  clearly  considered  his  experience  and 
his  skill  in  expounding  philosophical  principles  as  the 
smallest  of  his  merits ; and  from  him  I learned  how  to 
receive  from  friends  Avhat  are  esteemed  favors,  without 
being  either  hmnbled  by  them  or  letting  them  pass 
unnoticed. 

* Apollonius  of  CAalcis  came  to  Rome  in  the  time  of  Pius  to  be 
Marcus’  preceptor.  He  was  a rigid  Stoic. 


134 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


9.  From  Sextus,* * * §  a benevolent  disposition,  and  the 
example  of  a family  governed  in  a fatherly  manner, 
and  the  idea  of  living  conformably  to  nature ; and 
gravity  without  affectation,  and  to  look  carefully  after 
the  interests  of  friends,  and  to  tolerate  ignorant  per- 
sons, and  those  who  form  opinions  without  considera- 
tion : he  had  the  power  of  readily  accommodating 
himself  to  all,  so  that  intercourse  with  him  was  more 
agreeable  than  any  flattery ; and  at  the  same  time  he 
was  most  highly  venerated  by  those  who  associated 
with  him : and  he  had  the  faculty  both  of  discovering 
and  ordering,  in  an  intelligent  and  methodical  way, 
the  principles  necessary  for  life ; and  he  never  showed 
anger  or  any  other  passion,  but  was  entirely  free  from 
passion,  and  also  most  affectionate;  and  he  could  ex- 
press approbation  without  noisy  display,  and  he  pos- 
sessed much  knowledge  without  ostentation. 

10.  From  Alexander the  grammarian,  to  refrain 
from  fault-flnding,  and  not  in  a reproachful  way  to 
chide  those  who  uttered  any  barbarous  or  solecistic 
or  sti’ange-sounding  expression ; but  dexterously  to 
introduce  the  very  expression  which  ought  to  have 
been  used,  and  in  the  way  of  answer  or  giving  con- 
firmation, or  joining  in  an  inquiry  about  the  thing 
itself,  not  about  the  word,  or  by  some  other  fit  sug- 
gestion. 

11.  From  Fronto§  I learned  to  observe  what  envy 

* Sextus  of  Cliteronea,  a grandson  of  Plutarch,  or  nephew,  as 

some  say  ; hut  more  probably  a grandson. 

Alexander  was  a Grammaticus,  a native  of  Phrygia.  He  wrote 
a commentary  on  Homer;  and  the  rhetorician  Aristides  wrote  a pane- 
gyric on  Alexander  in  a funeral  oration. 

§ M.  Cornelius  Pronto  was  a rhetorician,  and  in  great  favor  with 
Marcus.  There  are  extant  various  letters  between  Marcus  and 
Pronto. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINCS. 


135 


and  duplicity  and  hypocrisy  are  in  a tyrant,  and  that 
generally  those  among  us  who  are  called  Patricians 
are  rather  deficient  in  paternal  affection. 

12.  Fi’om  Alexander  the  Platonic,  not  frequently 
nor  without  necessity  to  say  to  any  one,  or  to  write 
in  a letter,  that  I have  no  leisure ; nor  continually  to 
excuse  the  neglect  of  duties  required  by  our  relation 
to  those  with  whom  we  live,  by  alleging  urgent  occu- 
pations. 

13.  From  Catulus,'^  not  to  be  indifferent  when  a 
friend  finds  fault,  even  if  he  should  find  fault  without 
reason,  but  to  tiy  to  restore  him  to  his  usual  disposi- 
tion ; and  to  be  ready  to  speak  well  of  teachers,  as  it 
is  reported  of  Domitius  and  Athenodotus ; and  to  love 
my  children  truly. 

14.  From  my  brother;};  Severus,  to  love  my  kin,  and 
to  love  truth,  and  to  love  justice;  and  through  him 
I learned  to  know  Thrasea,  Helvidius,  Cato,  Dion, 
Brutus  ;§  and  from  him  I received  the  idea  of  a polity 
in  which  there  is  the  same  law  for  all,  a polity  admin- 
istered with  regard  to  equal  rights  and  equal  freedom 
of  speech,  and  the  idea  of  a kingl}'^  government  which 
respects  most  of  all  the  freedom  of  the  governed ; I 
learned  from  him  alsof  consistency  and  undeviating 
steadiness  in  my  regard  for  philosophy,  and  a disposi- 

* Cinna  Catulus,  a Stoic  philosopher. 

t The  word  brother  may  not  he  genuine.  Antoninus  had  no 
brother.  It  has  been  supposed  that  he  may  mean  some  cousin. 
Schultz  in  his  translation  omits  “brother,” and  says  that  this  Severus 
is  probably  Claudius  Severus,  a peripatetic. 

§ We  know,  from  Tacitus xiii.,  xvi.  21,  and  other  passages), 
who  Thrasea  and  Helvidius  were.  Plutarch  has  written  the  lives  of 
the  two  Catos,  and  of  Dion  and  Brutus,  Antoninus  probably  alludes 
to  (["ato  of  Utica,  who  was  a Stoic, 


13G 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


to  do  good,  and  to  give  to  others  readily,  and  to 
cherish  good  hopes,  and  to  believe  that  I am  loved  by 
my  friends ; and  in  him  I observed  no  concealment 
of  his  opinions  with  respect  to  those  whom  he  con- 
demned, and  that  his  friends  had  no  need  to  con- 
jecture what  he  wished  or  did  not  wish,  but  it  was 
quite  plain. 

15.  From  Maximus*  I learned  self-government,  and 
not  to  be  led  aside  by  anything ; and  cheerfulness  in 
all  circumstances,  as  well  as  in  illness;  and  a just 
admixture  in  the  moral  character  of  sweetness  and 
dignity,  and  to  do  what  was  set  before  me  without 
complaining.  I observed  that  everybody  believed  that 
he  thought  as  he  spoke,  and  that  in  all  that  he  did  he 
never  had  any  bad  intention;  and  he  never  showed 
amazement  and  surprise,  and  was  never  in  a hurry, 
and  never  put  off  doing  a thing,  nor  was  perplexed  nor 
dejected,  nor  did  he  ever  laugh  to  disguise  his  vexa- 
tion, nor,  on  the  other  hand,  was  he  ever  passionate 
or  suspicious.  He  was  accustomed  to  do  acts  of  be- 
neficence, and  was  ready  to  forgive,  and  was  free  from 
all  falsehood;  and  he  presented  the  appearance  of  a 
man  who  could  not  be  diverted  from  right  rather  than 
of  a man  who  had  been  improved.  I observed,  too, 
that  no  man  could  ever  think  that  he  was  despised  by 
Maximus,  or  ever  venture  to  think  himself  a better 
man.  He  had  also  the  art  of  being  humorous  in  an 
agreeable  way. 

16.  In  ray  fatherj;  I observed  mildness  of  temper, 

* Claudius  Maximus  was  a Stoic  philosopher,  who  was  highly 
esteemed  also  by  Antoninus  Pius,  Marcus’  predecessor.  The  character 
of  Maximus  is  that  of  a perfect  man.  (See  viii.  25.) 

t He  means  his  adoptive  father,  his  predecessor,  the  Emperor 
Antoninus  Pius.  Compare  vi.  30. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


137 


and  unchangeable  resolution  in  the  things  which  he 
had  determined  after  due  deliberation;  and  no  vain- 
glory in  those  things  which  men  call  honors ; and  a 
love  of  labor  and  perseverance;  and  a readiness  to 
listen  to  those  who  had  anything  to  propose  for  the 
common  weal ; and  undeviating  firmness  in  giving  to 
every  man  according  to  his  deserts ; and  a knowledge 
derived  from  experience  of  the  occasions  for  vigorous 
action  and  for  remission.  And  I observed  that  he  had 
overcome  all  passion  for  joys ; and  he  considered  him- 
self no  more  than  any  other  citizen,  and  he  released  his 
friends  from  all  obligation  to  sup  with  him  or  to 
attend  him  of  necessity  when  he  went  abroad,  and 
those  who  had  failed  to  accompany  him,  by  reason  of 
any  urgent  circumstances,  always  found  him  the  same. 
I observed,  too,  his  habit  of  careful  inquiry  in  all  mat- 
ters of  deliberation,  and  his  persistency,  and  that  he 
never  stopped  his  investigation  through  being  satis- 
fied with  appearances  which  first  present  themselves ; 
and  that  his  disposition  was  to  keep  his  friends,  and 
not  to  be  soon  tired  of  them,  nor  yet  to  be  extravagant 
in  his  affection ; and  to  be  satisfied  on  all  occasions, 
and  cheerful ; and  to  foresee  things  a long  way  off,  and 
to  provide  for  the  smallest  without  display ; and  to 
check  immediately  popular  applause  and  flattery ; and 
to  be  ever  watchful  over  the  things  that  were  neces- 
sary for  the  administration  of  the  empire,  and  to  be  a 
good  manager  of  the  expenditure,  and  patiently  to 
endure  the  blame  which  he  got  for  such  conduct ; and 
he  was  neither  superstitious  with  respect  to  the  gods, 
nor  did  he  court  men  by  gifts  or  by  trying  to  please 
them,  or  by  flattering  the  populace ; but  he  showed 
sobriety  in  all  things  and  firmness,  and  never  any 


138 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


mean  thoughts  or  action,  nor  love  of  novelty.  And 
the  things  which  conduce  in  any  way  to  the  commod- 
ity of  life,  and  of  which  fortune  gives  an  abundant 
supply,  he  used  without  arrogance  and  without  excus- 
ing himself ; so  that  when  he  had  them,  he  enjoyed 
them  without  affectation,  and  when  he  had  them  not 
he  did  not  want  tliem.  No  one  could  ever  say  of  him 
that  he  was  either  a sophist  or  a [home-bred]  flippant 
slave  or  a pedant;  but  every  one  acknowledged  him  to 
be  a man  ripe,  perfect,  above  flattery,  able  to  manage 
his  own  and  other  men’s  affairs.  Besides  this,  he  hon- 
ored those  who  were  ti-ue  philosophers,  and  he  did  not 
reproach  those  who  pretended  to  be  philosophers,  nor 
yet  was  he  easily  led  b^^  them.  He  was  also  easy  m 
conversation,  and  he  made  himself  agreeable  without 
any  offensive  affectation.  lie  took  a reasonable  care 
of  his  body’s  health,  not  as  one  who  was  greatly 
attached  to  life,  nor  out  of  regard  to  personal  appear- 
ance, nor  yet  in  a careless  way,  but  so  that,  through  his 
own  attention,  he  very  seldom  stood  in  need  of  the  ]:>hy- 
sician’s  art  or  of  medicine  or  external  ap])lications.  He 
was  most  ready  to  give  way  without  envy  to  those  who 
possessed  any  particular  faculty,  such  as  that  of  elo- 
quence or  knowledge  of  the  law  or  of  morals,  or  of  any- 
thing else  ; and  he  gave  them  his  help,  that  each  might 
enjoy  reputation  according  to  his  deserts  ; and  he  always 
acted  conformably  to  the  institutions  of  his  country, 
without  showing  any  affectation  of  doing  so.  Further, 
he  was  not  fond  of  change,  nor  unsteady,  but  he  loved 
to  stay  in  the  same  places,  and  to  employ  himself  about 
the  same  things ; and  after  his  paroxysms  of  headache 
he  came  immediately  fresh  and  vigorous  to  his  usual 
occupations.  His  secrets  were  not  many,  but  very 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONIMUS. 


139 


few  and  very  rare,  and  these  only  about  public  mat- 
ters; and  he  showed  prudence  and  economy  in  the 
exhibition  of  the  public  spectacles  and  the  construction 
of  public  buildings,  his  donations  to  the  people,  and  in 
such  things,  for  he  was  a man  who  looked  to  what 
ought  to  be  done,  not  to  the  reputation  w^hich  is  got 
by  a man’s  acts.  He  did  not  take  the  bath  at  unsea- 
sonable hours ; he  was  not  fond  of  building  houses,  nor 
curious  about  what  he  eat,  nor  about  the  texture  and 
color  of  his  clothes,  nor  about  the  beauty  of  his  slaves.* * * § 
His  dress  came  from  Lorium,  his  villa  on  the  coast,  and 
from  Lanuvium  generally.:};  W e know  how  he  behaved 
to  the  toll-collector  at  Tusculum  who  asked  his  par- 
don ; and  such  was  all  his  behavior.  There  was  in 
him  nothing  harsh,  nor  implacable,  nor  violent,  nor,  as 
one  may  say,  anjdhing  carried  to  the  sweating  point : 
but  he  examined  all  things  severally,  as  if  he  had  abun- 
dance of  time,  and  without  confusion,  in  an  orderly 
way,  vigorously  and  consistently.  And  that  might  be 
applied  to  him  which  is  recorded  of  Socrates,§  that  he 
was  able  both  to  abstain  from,  and  to  enjoy,  those  things 
which  many  are  too  weak  to  abstain  from,  and  cannot 
enjoy  without  excess.  But  to  be  strong  enough  both 
to  bear  the  one  and  to  be  sober  in  the  other  is  the 
mark  of  a man  who  has  a perfect  and  invincible  soul, 
such  as  he  showed  in  the  illness  of  Maximus. 

17.  To  the  gods  I am  indebted  for  having  good 
grandfathers,  good  parents,  a good  sister,  good  teach- 
ers, good  associates,  good  kinsmen  and  friends,  nearly 

* This  passage  is  corrupt  and  the  exact  meaning  is  uncertain. 

t Lorium  was  a villa  on  the  coast  north  of  Rome,  and  there 

Antoninus  was  brought  up,  and  he  died  there.  This  also  is  corrupt. 

§ Xenophon,  Memorab.  i.  3.  15. 


140 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


everything  good.  Further,  I oAve  it  to  the  gods  that  I 
Avas  not  hurried  into  any  offense  against  any  of  them, 
though  I had  a disposition  AA^hioh,  if  opportunity  had 
offered,  might  have  led  me  to  do  something  of  this 
kind ; but,  through  their  favor,  there  never  was  such  a 
concurrence  of  circumstances  as  put  me  to  the  trial. 
Further,  I am  thankful  to  the  gods  that  I Avas  not 
longer  brought  up  with  my  grandfather’s  concubine, 
and  that  I preserved  the  flower  of  my  youth,  and  that 
I did  not  make  proof  of  my  virility  before  the  proper 
season,  but  even  deferred  the  time ; that  I AA^as  subjected 
to  a ruler  and  a father  who  Avas  able  to  take  aAvay  all 
pride  from  me,  and  to  bring  me  to  the  knoAvledge  that 
it  is  possible  for  a man  to  live  in  a palace  Avithout  Avant- 
ing  either  guards  or  embroidered  dresses,  or  torches 
and  statues,  and  such-like  show ; but  it  is  in  such  a 
man’s  power  to  bring  himself  very  near  to  the  fashion 
of  a private  person,  Avithout  being  for  this  reason  either 
meaner  in  thought,  or  more  remiss  in  action,  Avith 
respect  to  the  things  Avhich  must  be  done  for  the  public 
interest  in  a manner  that  befits  a ruler.  I thank  the 
gods  for  giving  me  such  a brother,*  Avho  Avas  able  by 
his  moral  character  to  rouse  me  to  vigilance  over  my- 
self, and  Avho,  at  the  same  time,  pleased  me  by  his 
respect  and  affection ; that  my  children  have  not  been 
stupid  nor  deformed  in  body ; that  I did  not  make  more 
proficiency  in  rhetoric,  poetry,  and  the  other  studies, 
in  Avhich  I should  perhaps  have  been  completely  en- 
gaged, if  I had  seen  that  I Avas  making  progress  in 
them  ; that  I made  haste  to  place  those  Avho  brought 
me  up  in  the  station  of  honor,  Avhich  they  seemed  to 

* The  emperor  had  no  brother,  except  L.  Verus,  his  brother  by 
adoption. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


141 


desire,  without  putting  them  off  with  hope  of  my  doing 
it  some  time  after,  because  they  were  then  still  young; 
that  I knew  Apollonius,  Eusticus,  IVIaximus;  that  I 
received  clear  and  frequent  impressions  about  living  ac- 
cording to  nature,  and  what  kind  of  a life  that  is,  so  that, 
so  far  as  depended  on  the  gods,  and  their  gifts  and  help, 
and  inspirations,  nothing  hindered  me  from  forthwith 
living  according  to  nature,  though  I still  fall  short  of 
it  through  my  own  fault,  and  though  not  observing  the 
admonitions  of  the  gods,  and,  I may  ahnoct  say,  their 
direct  instructions ; that  my  body  has  held  out  so  long  in 
such  a kind  of  life ; that  I never  touched  either  Benedicta 
or  Theodotus,  and  that,  after  having  fallen  into  ama- 
tory passions,  I was  cured  ; and,  thougli  I was  often  out 
of  humor  Avith  Rusticus,  I never  did  anything  of  which 
I had  occasion  to  repent ; that,  though  it  Avas  my 
mother’s  fate  to  die  young,  she  spent  the  last  years  of  her 
life  with  me;  that  Avhenever  I wished  to  help  any  man 
in  his  need,  or  on  any  other  occasion,  I Avas  neAmr  told 
that  I had  not  the  means  of  doing  it ; and  that  to  my- 
self the  same  necessity  ncA^er  happened,  to  receive  any 
thing  from  another;  that  I have  such  a Avife,*  so 
obedient,  and  so  affectionate,  and  so  simple;  that  I had 
abundance  of  good  masters  for  my  children;  and  that 
remedies  have  been  shown  to  me  by  dreams,  both 
others,  and  against  blood-spitting  and  giddiness;:}; 
. . , and  that,  Avhen  I had  an  inclination  to  philos- 

ophy I did  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  any  sophist,  and 
that  I did  not  Avaste  my  time  on  writers  [of  histories], 
or  in  the  resolution  of  syllogisms,  or  occupy  myself 
about  the  investigation  of  appearances  in  the  heavens ; 


*See  tlie  Life  of  Antoninus, 
i This  is  corrupt 


143 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


for  all  these  things  require  the  help  of  the  gods  and 
fortune. 

Among  the  Quadi  at  the  Granua.* 

* The  Quadi  lived  in  the  southern  part  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia; 
and  Antoninus  made  a campaign  against  them.  (See  the  Life.) 
Granua  is  prohahly  the  river  Graan,  which  flows  into  the-Danube. 
If  these  words  are  genuine,  Antoninus  may  have  written  this  first 
book  during  the  war  with  the  Quadi.  In  the  first  edition  of  Anto- 
ninus, and  in  the  older  editions,  the  first  three  sections  of  the  second 
book  make  the  conclusion  of  the  first  book.  Gataker  placed  them  at 
the  beginning  of  the  second  book. 


MARCU8  A URELIU8  ANT0NINU8. 


143 


II. 

Begin  the  morning  by  saying  to  thyself,  I shall  meet 
with  the  busybody,  the  ungrateful,  arrogant,  deceitful, 
envious,  unsocial.  All  these  things  happen  to  them 
by  reason  of  their  ignorance  of  what  is  good  and  evil. 
But  I who  have  seen  the  nature  of  the  good  that  it  is 
beautiful,  and  of  the  bad  that  it  is  ugly,  and  the  nature 
of  him  who  does  wrong,  that  it  is  akin  to  me,  not  [only] 
of  the  same  blood  or  seed,  but  that  it  participates  in 
[the  same]  intelligence  and  [the  same]  portion  of  the 
divinity,  I can  neither  be  injured  by  any  of  them,  for 
no  one  can  fix  on  me  what  is  ugly,  nor  can  I be  angry 
with  my  kinsman,  nor  hate  him.  For  we  are  made 
for  co-operation,  like  feet,  like  hands,  like  eyelids,  like 
the  rows  of  the  upper  and  lower  teeth.*  To  act 
against  one  another  then  is  contrary  to  nature ; and  it 
is  acting  against  one  another  to  be  vexed  and  to  turn 
away. 

2.  Whatever  this  is  that  I am,  it  is  a little  flesh  and 
breath,  and  the  ruling  part.  Throw  away  thy  books  ; 
no  longer  distract  thyself  : it  is  not  allowed ; but  as  if 
thou  wast  now  dying,  despise  the  flesh  ; it  is  blood  and 
bones  and  a network,  a contexture  of  nerves,  veins  and 
arteries.  See  the  breath  also,  what  kind  of  a thing  it 
is ; air,  and  not  always  the  same,  but  every  moment 
sent  out  and  again  sucked  in.  The  third  then  is  the 


* Xenophon,  Mem.  ii.  3.  18. 


144 


THE  MEDITATION'S  OF 


ruling  part : consider  thus : Thou  art  an  old  man ; no 
longer  let  this  be  a slave,  no  longer  be  pulled  by  the 
strings  like  a puppet  to  unsocial  movements,  no  longer 
be  either  dissatisfied  with  thy  present  lot,  or  shrink 
from  the  future. 

3.  All  that  is  from  the  gods  is  full  of  providence. 
That  which  is  from  fortune  is  not  separated  from 
nature  or  without  an  interweaving  and  involution  with 
the  things  which  are  ordered  by  Providence.  From 
thence  all  things  flow ; and  there  is  besides  necessity, 
and  that  which  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse, of  which  thou  art  a part.  But  that  is  good  for 
every  part  of  nature  which  the  nature  of  the  whole 
brings,  and  what  serves  to  maintain  this  nature,  hfow 
the  universe  is  preserved,  as  by  the  changes  of  the 
elements  so  by  the  changes  of  things  compounded  of 
the  elements.  Let  these  principles  be  enough  for  thee  ; 
let  them  always  be  fixed  opinions.  But  cast  away  the 
thirst  after  books,  that  thou  mayest  not  die  murmur- 
ing, but  cheerfully,  truly,  and  from  thy  heart  thankful 
to  the  gods. 

4.  Remember  how  long  thou  hast  been  putting  off 
these  things,  and  how  often  thou  hast  received  an 
opportunity  from  the  gods,  and  yet  dost  not  use  it. 
Thou  must  now  at  last  perceive  of  what  universe  thou 
art  a part,  and  of  what  administrator  of  the  universe 
thy  existence  is  an  efflux,  and  that  a limit  of  time  is 
fixed  for  thee,  which  if  thou  dost  not  use  for  clearing 
away  the  clouds  from  thy  mind,  it  will  go  and  thou 
wilt  go,  and  it  will  never  return. 

5.  Every  moment  think  steadily  as  a Roman  and  a 
man  to  do  what  thou  hast  in  hand  with  perfect  and 
simple  dignity,  and  feeling  of  affection,  and  freedom. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


143 


and  justice ; and  to  give  thyself  relief  from  all  other 
thoughts.  And  thou  wilt  give  thyself  relief,  if  thou 
doest  every  act  of  thy  life  as  if  it  were  the  last,  laying 
aside  all  carelessness  and  passionate  aversion  from  the 
commands  of  reason,  and  all  hypocrisy,  and  self-love, 
and  discontent  with  the  portion  which  has  been  given 
to  thee.  Thou  seest  how  few  the  things  are,  the  which 
if  a man  lays  hold  of,  he  is  able  to  live  a life  which 
flows  in  quiet,  and  is  like  the  existence  of  the  gods  ; 
for  the  gods  on  their  part  will  require  nothing  more 
from  him  who  observes  these  things. 

6.  Do  wrong*  to  thyself,  do  wrong  to  thyself,  my 
soul ; but  thou  wilt  no  longer  have  the  opportunity  of 
honoring  thyself.  Every  man’s  life  is  sufRcient.f  But 
thine  is  nearly  finished,  though  thy  soul  reverences  not 
itself,  but  places  thy  felicity  in  the  souls  of  others. 

7.  Do  the  things  external  which  fall  upon  thee  dis- 
tract thee?  Give  thyself  time  to  learn  something  new 
and  good,  and  cease  to  be  whirled  around.  But  then 
thou  must  also  avoid  being  carried  about  the  other 
way.  For  those  too  are  triflers  who  have  wearied 
themselves  in  life  by  their  activity,  and  yet  have  no 
object  to  which  to  direct  every  movement,  and,  in  a 
word,  all  their  thoughts. 

8.  Through  not  observing  what  is  in  the  mind  of 
another  a man  has  seldom  been  seen  to  be  unhappy  ; 
but  those  who  do  not  observe  the  movements  of  their 
own  minds  must  of  necessity  be  unhappy. 

9.  This  thou  must  always  bear  in  mind,  what  is  the 
nature  of  the  whole,  and  what  is  my  nature,  and  how 
this  is  related  to  that,  and  what  kind  of  a part  it  is  of 
what  kind  of  a whole ; and  that  there  is  no  one  who 

* Perhaps  it  should  be  “ thou  art  doing  violence  to  thyself.” 


14(5 


THE  MEHITATIONS  OF 


hinders  thee  from  always  doing  and  saying  the  things 
which  are  according  to  the  nature  of  which  thou  art  a 
part. 

10.  Theophrastus,  in  his  comparison  of  bad  acts — 
such  a comparison  as  one  would  make  in  accordance 
with  the  common  notions  of  mankind — says,  like  a 
true  ])hilosopher,  that  the  offenses  which  are  committed 
through  desire  are  more  blameable  than  those  which 
are  committed  through  anger  For  he  who  is  excited 
by  anger  seems  to  turn  away  from  reason  with  a 
certain  pain  and  unconscious  contraction  ; but  he  who 
offends  through  desire,  being  overpowered  by  pleasure, 
seems  to  be  in  a manner  more  intemperate  and  more 
womanish  in  his  offenses.  Rightly  then,  and  in  a 
way  wortliy  of  philosophy,  he  said  that  the  offense 
Avhich  is  committed  with  pleasure  is  more  blameable 
than  that  which  is  committed  with  pain ; and  on  the 
Avhole  the  one  is  more  like  a person  who  has  been  first 
wronged  and  tlirough  pain  is  compelled  to  be  angry ; 
but  the  other  is  moved  by  his  own  impulse  to  do 
wrong,  being  carried  toward  doing  something  by  desire. 

11.  Since  it  is  possible*  that  thou  mayest  depart  from 
life  this  very  moment,  regulate  every  act  and  thought 
accordingly.;};  Rut  to  go  aAvay  from  among  men,  if 
there  are  gods,  is  not  a thing  to  be  afraid  of,  for  the 
gods  will  not  iiwolve  thee  in  evil ; but  if  indeed  they  do 
not  exist,  or  if  they  have  no  concern  about  human 
affairs,  what  is  it  to  me  to  live  in  a universe  devoid  of 
gods  or  devoid  of  providence?  But  in  truth  they  do 
exist,  and  they  do  care  for  human  things,  and  they  have 

* Or  it  may  mean  “since  it  is  in  tliy  power  to  depart which 
gives  a meaning  somewhat  diiferent. 

I See  Cicero,  Tuscul.  i.  49. 


MARCnS  A tlRELIirS  ANTONINUS. 


147 


put  all  the  means  in  man’s  power  to  enable  him  not  to 
fall  into  real  evils.  And  as  to  the  rest,  if  there  was 
anything  evil,  they  would  have  provided  for  this  also, 
that  it  should  be  altogether  in  a man’s  power  not  to 
fall  into  it.  Now,  that  which  does  not  make  a man 
worse,  how  can  it  make  a man’s  life  worse?  But 
neither  through  ignorance,  nor  having  the  knowledge, 
but  not  the  power  to  guard  against  or  correct  these 
things,  is  it  possible  that  the  nature  of  the  universe  has 
overlooked  them  ; nor  is  it  possible  that  it  has  made  so 
great  a mistake,  either  through  want  of  power  or  w<!,nt 
of  skill,  that  good  and  evil  should  happen  indiscrimi- 
nately to  the  good  and  the  bad.  But  death  certainly, 
and  life,  honor  and  dishonor,  pain  and  pleasure,  all 
these  things  equally  happen  to  good  men  and  bad, 
being  things  Avhich  make  us  neither  better  nor  worse. 
Therefore  they  are  neither  good  nor  evil. 

12.  How  quickly  all  these  things  disappear,  in  the 
universe  the  bodies  themselves,  but  in  time  the  remem- 
brance of  them ; what  is  the  nature  of  all  sensible 
things,  and  particularly  those  which  attract  with  the 
bait  of  pleasure  or  terrify  by  pain,  or  are  noised  abroad 
by  vapory  fame ; how  worthless,  and  contemptible, 
and  sordid  and  perishable,  and  dead  they  are — all 
this  it  is  the  part  of  the  intellectual  faculty  to  observe. 
To  observe  too  who  these  are  whose  opinions  and 
voices  give  reputation ; what  death  is,  and  the  fact 
that,  if  a man  looks  at  it  in  itself,  and  by  the  abstract- 
ive power  of  reflection  resolves  into  their  parts  all  the 
things  Avhich  present  themselves  to  the  imagination  in 
it,  he  will  then  consider  it  to  be  nothing  else  than  an 
operation  of  nature ; and  if  any  one  is  afraid  of  an 
operation  of  nature  he  is  a child.  This,  however,  is 


148 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


not  only  an  operation  of  nature,  but  it  is  also  a thing 
which  conduces  to  the  purposes  of  nature.  To  observe, 
too,  how  man  conies  near  to  the  deity,  and  by  what 
part  of  him,  and  when  this  part  of  man  is  so  disposedf 
(vi.  28). 

13.  Nothing  is  more  wretched  than  a man  who 
traverses  everything  in  a round,  and  pries  into  the 
things  beneath  the  earth,  as  the  poet*  says,  and  seeks 
by  conjecture  what  is  in  the  minds  of  his  neighbors, 
Avithout  perceiving  that  it  is  sufficient  to  attend  to  the 
demon  within  him,  and  to  reverence  it  sincerely.  And 
reverence  of  the  demon  consists  in  keeping  it  pure 
from  passion  and  thoughtlessness,  and  dissatisfaction 
with  Avhat  comes  from  gods  and  men.  For  the  things 
from  the  gods  merit  veneration  for  their  excellence ; 
and  the  things  from  men  should  be  dear  to  us  by 
reason  of  kinship ; and  sometimes  even,  in  a manner, 
they  move  our  pity  by  reason  of  men’s  ignorance  of 
good  and  bad;  this  defect  being  not  less  than  that 
which  dejirives  us  of  the  power  of  distinguishing 
things  that  are  white  and  black. 

14.  Though  thou  shouldest  be  going  to  live  three 
thousand  years,  and  as  many  times  ten  thousand  years, 
still  remember  that  no  man  loses  any  other  life  than 
this  which  he  now  lives,  nor  lives  any  other  than  this 
which  he  noAV  loses.  The  longest  and  shortest  are 
thus  brought  to  the  same.  For  the  present  is  the 
same  to  all,  though  that  which  perishes  is  not  the 
same  ;f  and  so  that  which  is  lost  appears  to  be  a mere 
moment.  For  a man  cannot  lose  either  the  past  or  the 
future : for  what  a man  has  not,  how  can  any  one  take 
tliis  from  him?  These  two  things  then  thou  must 


* Pindar  in  the  Thesetetus  of  Plato.  See  xi.  1. 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS.  149 

bear  in  mind  : the  one,  that  all  things  from  eternity 
are  of  like  forms  and  come  round  in  a circle,  and  that 
it  makes  no  difference  whether  a man  shall  see  the 
same  things  during  a hundred  years  or  two  hundred,  or 
an  infinite  time ; and  the  second,  that  the  longest  liver 
and  he  who  will  die  soonest  lose  just  the  same.  For 
the  present  is  the  only  thing  of  which  a man  can  be 
deprived,  if  it  is  true  that  this  is  the  only  thing  which 
he  has,  and  that  a man  cannot  lose  a thing  if  he  has 
it  not. 

15.  Kemember  that  all  is  opinion.  For  what  was 
said  by  the  Cynic  Monimus  is  manifest : and  manifest 
too  is  the  use  of  what  was  said,  if  a man  receives  what 
may  be  got  out  of  it  as  far  as  it  is  true. 

16.  The  soul  of  man  does  violence  to  itself,  first  of 
all,  when  it  becomes  an  abscess  and,  as  it  were,  a tumor 
on  the  universe,  so  far  as  it  can.  For  to  be  vexed  at 
anything  which  happens  is  a separation  of  ourselves 
from  nature,  in  some  part-  of  which  the  natures  of  all 
other  things  are  contained.  In  the  next  place,  the  soul 
does  violence  to  itself  when  it  turns  away  from  any 
man,  or  even  moves  toward  him  with  the  intention  of 
injuring,  such  as  are  the  souls  of  those  who  are  angry. 
In  the  third  place,  the  soul  does  violence  to  itself  when 
it  is  overpowered  by  pleasure  or  by  pain.  Fourthly, 
when  it  plays  a part,  and  does  or  says  anything  insin- 
cerely and  untruly.  Fifthly,  when  it  allows  any  act 
of  its  own  and  any  movement  to  be  without  an  aim, 
and  does  anything  thoughtlessly  and  without  consider- 
ing what  it  is,  it  being  right  that  even  the  smallest 
things  be  done  with  reference  to  an  end  ; and  the  end 
of  rational  animals  is  to  follow  the  reason  and  the  law 
of  the  most  ancient  city  and  polity. 


150 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


17.  Of  human  life  the  time  is  a point,  and  the  sub- 
stance is  in  a flux,  and  the  perception  dull,  and  the 
composition  of  the  whole  body  subject  to  putrefaction, 
and  the  soul  a whirl,  and  fortune  hard  to  divine,  and 
fame  a thing  devoid  of  judgment.  And,  to  say  all  in  a 
word,  everything  which  belongs  to  the  body  is  a stream, 
and  what  belongs  to  the  soul  is  a dream  and  vapor,  and 
life  is  a warfare  and  a stranger’s  sojourn,  and  after- 
fame is  oblivion.  What,  then,  is  that  which  is  able  to 
conduct  a man  ? One  thing,  and  only  one — philosophy. 
But  this  consists  in  keeping  the  demon  within  a man 
free  from  violence  and  unharmed,  superior  to  pains  and 
pleasures,  doing  nothing  without  a purpose,  nor  yet 
falsely  and  with  hypocrisy,  not  feeling  the  need  of  an- 
other man’s  doing  or  not  doing  anything;  and  besides, 
accepting  all  that  happens,  and  all  that  is  allotted,  as 
coming  from  thence,  wherever  it  is,  from  whence  he 
himself  came;  and,  finally,  waiting  for  death  with  a 
cheerful  mind,  as  being  nothing  else  than  a dissolution 
of  the  elements  of  which  every  living  being  is  com- 
pounded. But  if  there  is  no  harm  to  the  elements 
themselves  in  each  continually  changing  into  another, 
why  should  a man  have  any  apprehension  about  the 
change  and  dissolution  of  all  the  elements?  For  it 
is  according  to  nature,  and  nothing  is  evil  which  is 
according  to  nature. 

This  in  Carnuntum.* 

* Carnuntum  was  a town  of  Pannonia,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Danube,  about  thirty  miles  east  of  Vindobona  (Vienna).  Orosius  (vii. 
15)  and  Eutropius  (viii.  13)  say  that  Antoninus  remained  three  years 
at  Carnu  -turn  during  his  war  with  the  Marcorhanni. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


151 


III. 

We  ou^ht  to  consider  not  only  that  our  life  is  daily 
wasting  away  and  a smaller  part  of  it  is  left,  but  an- 
other thing  also  must  be  taken  into  the  account,  that  if 
a man  should  live  longer  it  is  quite  uncertain  whether 
the  understanding  will  still  continue  sufficient  for  the 
comprehension  of  things,  and  retain  the  power  of  con- 
templation which  strives  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of 
the  divine  and  the  human.  For  if  he  shall  begin  to  fall 
into  dotage,  perspiration  and  nutrition  and  imagination 
and  appetite,  and  whatever  else  there  is  of  the  kind, 
will  not  fail ; but  the  power  of  making  use  of  our- 
selves, and  filling  up  the  measure  of  our  duty,  and 
clearly  separating  all  appearances,  and  considering 
whether  a man  should  noAV  depart  from  life,  and 
whatever  else  of  the  kind  absolutely  requires  a dis- 
ciplined reason,  all  this  is  already  extinguished.  We 
must  make  haste  then,  not  onlj^  because  we  are  daily 
nearer  to  death,  but  also  because  the  conception  of 
things  and  the  understanding  of  them  cease  first. 

2.  We  ought  to  observe  also  that  even  the  things 
which  follow  after  the  things  Avhich  are  produced 
according  to  nature  contain  something  pleasing  and 
attractive.  For  instance,  when  bread  is  baked  some 
parts  are  split  at  the  surface,  and  these  parts  which 
thus  open,  and  have  a certain  fashion  contrary  to  the 
purpose  of  the  baker’s  art,  are  beautiful  in  a manner, 


152 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


and  in  a peculiar  way  excite  a desire  for  eating.  And 
again,  figs,  when  they  are  quite  ripe,  gape  open,  and  in 
the  ripe  olives  the  very  circumstance  of  their  being 
near  to  rottenness  adds  a peculiar  beauty  to  the  fruit. 
And  the  ears  of  corn  bending  down,  and  the  lion’s  eye- 
brows, and  the  foam  which  liows  from  the  mouth  of 
wild  boars,  and  many  other  things — though  they  are 
far  from  being  beautiful,  if  a man  should  examine 
them  severally  — still,  because  they  are  consequent 
upon  the  things  which  are  formed  by  nature,  help  to 
adorn  them,  and  they  please  the  mind ; so  that  if  a 
man  should  have  a feeling  and  deeper  insight  with 
respect  to  the  things  which  are  produced  in  the  uni- 
verse, there  is  hardly  one  of  those  which  follow  by  way 
of  consequence  which  will  not  seem  to  him  to  be  in  a 
manner  disposed  so  as  to  give  pleasure.  And  so  he 
will  see  even  the  real  gaping  jaws  of  wild  beasts  with 
no  less  pleasure  than  those  which  painters  and  sculp- 
tors show  by  imitation ; and  in  an  old  woman  and  an 
old  man  he  will  be  able  to  see  a certain  maturity  and 
comeliness;  and  the  attractive  loveliness  of  young  per- 
sons he  will  be  able  to  look  on  with  chaste  eyes ; and 
many  such  things  will  present  themselves,  not  pleasing 
to  every  man,  but  to  him  only  who  has  become  truly 
familiar  with  nature  and  her  works. 

3.  Hippocrates  after  curing  many  diseases  himself 
fell  sick  and  died.  The  Chaldmi  foretold  the  deaths  of 
many,  and  then  fate  caught  them  too.  Alexander, 
and  Pompeius,  and  Cains  Csesar,  after  so  often  com- 
pletely destroying  whole  cities,  and  in  battle  cutting  to 
pieces  many  ten  thousands  of  cavalry  and  infantry, 
themselves  too  at  last  departed  from  life.  Heraclitus, 
after  so  many  speculations  on  the  conflagration  of  the 


MABCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


153 


universe,  was  filled  with  water  internally  and  died 
smeared  all  over  with  mud.  And  lice  destroyed  Demo- 
critus; and  other  lice  killed  Socrates.  What  means 
all  this  ? Thou  hast  embarked,  thou  hast  made  the 
voyage,  thou  art  come  to  shore ; get  out.  If  indeed 
to  another  life,  there  is  no  want  of  gods,  not  even 
there.  But  if  to  a state  without  sensation,  thou  wilt 
cease  to  be  held  by  pains  and  pleasures,  and  to  be  a 
slave  to  the  vessel,  which  is  as  much  inferior  as  that 
which  serves  it  is  superior  ;f  for  the  one  is  intelligence 
and  deity ; the  other  is  earth  and  corruption. 

4.  Do  not  waste  the  remainder  of  thy  life  in  thoughts 
about  others,  when  thou  dost  not  refer  thy  thoughts  to 
some  object  of  common  utility.  For  thou  losest  the 
opportunity  of  doing  something  else  when  thou  hast 
such  thoughts  as  these.  What  is  such  a person  doing, 
and  why,  and  what  is  he  saying,  and  what  is  he 
thinking  of,  and  what  is  he  contriving,  and  whatever 
else  of  the  kind  makes  us  wander  away  from  the  ob- 
servation of  our  own  ruling  power.  We  ought  then 
to  check  in  the  series  of  our  thoughts  everything  that 
is  without  a purpose  and  useless,  but  most  of  all  the 
overcurious  feeling  and  the  malignant ; and  a man 
should  use  himself  to  think  of  those  things  only  about 
which  if  one  should  suddenly  ask,  What  hast  thou  now 
in  thy  thoughts  ? with  perfect  openness  thou  mightest 
immediately  answer : This  or  that ; so  that  from  thy 
words  it  should  be  plain  that  everything  in  thee  is 
simple  and  benevolent,  and  such  as  befits  a social 
animal,  and  one  that  cares  not  for  thoughts  about 
pleasure  or  sensual  enjoyments  at  all,  nor  has  any 
rivalry  or  envy  and  suspicion,  or  anything  else  for 
which  thou  wouldst  blush  if  thou  shouldst  say  that  thou 


154 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


liadst  it  in  thy  mind.  For  the  man  who  is  such  and 
no  longer  delays  being  among  the  number  of  the  best, 
is  like  a ])riest  and  minister  of  the  gods,  using  too  the 
[deity]  which  is  planted  within  him,  which  makes  the 
man  uncontaminated  by  pleasure,  unharmed  by  any 
]iain,  untouched  by  any  insult,  feeling  no  wrong,  a 
tighter  in  the  noblest  fight,  one  who  cannot  be  over- 
powered by  any  passion,  dyed  deep  with  justice, 
accepting  with  all  his  soul  everything  which  happens 
and  is  assigned  to  him  as  his  portion ; and  not  often, 
nor  yet  without  great  necessity  and  for  the  general 
interest,  imagining  what  another  says,  or  does,  or 
thinks.  For  it  is  only  what  belongs  to  himself  that 
he  makes  the  matter  for  his  activity  ; and  he  con- 
stantly thinks  of  that  which  is  allotted  to  himself  out 
of  the  sum  total  of  things,  and  he  makes  his  own  acts 
fair,  and  he  is  persuaded  that  his  own  portion  is  good. 
For  the  lot  which  is  assigned  to  each  man  is  carried 
along  with  him  and  carries  him  along  with  it.f  And 
he  remembers  also  that  everj^  rational  animal  is  his 
kinsman,  and  that  to  care  for  all  men  is  according  to 
man’s  nature ; and  a man  should  hold  on  to  the  opin- 
ion not  of  all  but  of  those  only  who  confessedly  live 
according  to  nature.  But  as  to  those  who  live  not  so, 
he  always  bears  in  mind  what  kind  of  men  they  are, 
both  at  home  and  from  home,  both  by  night  and  by 
day,  and  what  they  are,  and  with  wdiat  men  they  live 
an  impure  life.  Accordingly,  he  does  not  value  at  all 
the  praise  which  comes  from  such  men,  since  they  are 
not  even  satisfied  with  themselves. 

5.  Labor  not  unwillingly,  nor  without  regard  to  the 
common  interest,  nor  without  due  consideration,  nor 
with  distraction ; nor  let  studied  ornament  set  off  thy 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


155 


thoughts,  and  be  not  either  a man  of  many  words,  or 
busy  about  too  many  things.  And  further,  let  the 
deity  which  is  in  thee  be  the  guardian  of  a living 
being,  manly  and  of  ripe  age,  and  engaged  in  matter 
political,  and  a Koman,  and  a ruler,  who  has  taken  his 
post  like  a man  waiting  for  the  signal  which  summons 
him  from  life,  and  ready  to  go,  having  need  neither  of 
oath  nor  of  any  man’s  testimony.  Be  cheerful  also, 
and  seek  not  external  help  nor  the  tranquillity  which 
others  give.  A man  then  must  stand  erect,  not  be 
kept  erect  by  others. 

6.  If  thou  findest  in  human  life  anything  better 
than  justice,  truth,  temperance,  fortitude,  and,  in  a 
word,  anything  better  than  thy  own  mind’s  self- 
satisfaction  in  the  things  which  it  enables  thee  to  do 
according  to  right  reason,  and  in  the  condition  that  is 
assigned  to  thee  without  thy  own  choice ; if,  I say, 
thou  seest  anything  better  than  this,  turn  to  it  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  enjoy  that  which  thou  hast  found  to 
be  the  best.  But  if  nothing  appears  to  be  better  than 
the  deity  which  is  planted  in  thee,  which  has  sub- 
jected to  itself  all  thy  appetites,  and  carefully  ex- 
amines all  the  impressions,  and,  as  Socrates  said,  has 
detached  itself  from  the  persuasions  of  sense,  and  has 
submitted  itself  to  the  gods,  and  cares  for  mankind ; 
if  thou  findest  everything  else  smaller  and  of  less 
value  than  this,  give  place  to  nothing  else,  for  if  thou 
dost  once  diverge  and  incline  to  it,  thou  wilt  no 
longer  without  distraction  be  able  to  give  the  prefer- 
ence to  that  good  tiling  Avhich  is  thy  proper  posses- 
sion and  thy  own;  for  it  is  not  right  that  anything  of 
any  other  kind,  such  as  praise  from  the  many,  or 
power,  or  enjoyment  of  pleasure,  should  come  into 


156 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


competition  with  that  which  is  rationally  and  politi- 
cally [or,  practically]  good.  All  these  things,  even 
though  they  may  seem  to  adapt  themselves  [to  the 
better  things]  in  a small  degree,  obtain  the  superiority 
all  at  once,  and  carry  us  away.  But  do  thou,  I say, 
simply  and  freely  choose  the  better,  and  hold  to  it. 
But  that  which  is  useful  is  the  better.  Well  then,  if  it 
is  only  useful  to  thee  as  a rational  being,  keep  to  it ; 
but  if  it  is  only  useful  to  thee  as  an  animal,  say  so, 
and  maintain  thy  judgment  without  arrogance ; only 
take  care  that  thou  makest  the  inquiry  by  a sure 
method. 

7.  I7ever  value  anything  as  profitable  to  thyself 
which  shall  compel  thee  to  break  thy  promise,  to  lose 
thy  self-respect,  to  hate  any  man,  to  suspect,  to  curse, 
to  act  the  hypocrite,  to  desire  anything  which  needs 
walls  and  curtains ; for  he  who  has  preferred  to  every- 
thing else  his  own  intelligence  and  demon  and  the 
w^orship  of  its  excellence,  acts  no  tragic  part,  does  not 
groan,  will  not  need  either  solitude  or  much  company ; 
and,  what  is  chief  of  all,  he  will  live  without  either 
pursuing  or  flying  from  [death];*  but  whether  for  a 
longer  or  a shorter  time  he  shall  have  the  soul  in- 
closed in  the  body,  he  cares  not  at  all ; for  even  if  he 
must  depart  immediately,  he  will  go  as  readily  as  if  he 
were  going  to  do  anything  else  which  can  be  done 
with  decency  and  order ; taking  care  of  this  only,  all 
through  life,  that  his  thoughts  turn  not  away  from 
anything  which  belongs  to  an  intelligent  animal  and  a 
member  of  a civil  community. 

8.  In  the  mind  of  one  who  is  chastened  and  purified 
thou  wilt  find  no  corrupt  matter,  nor  impurity,  nor 

* Comp.  ix.  3. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


157 


any  sore  skinned  over.  ISTor  is  his  life  incomplete 
when  fate  overtakes  him,  as  one  may  say  of  an  actor 
who  leaves  the  stage  before  ending  and  finishing  the 
play.  Besides,  there  is  in  him  nothing  servile,  nor 
affected,  nor  too  closely  bound  [to  other  things],  nor 
yet  detached*  [from  other  things],  nothing  worthy  of 
blame,  nothing  which  seeks  a hiding-place. 

9.  Eeverence  the  faculty  which  produces  opinion. 
On  this  faculty  it  entirely  depends  whether  there 
shall  exist  in  thy  ruling  part  any  opinion  inconsistent 
Avith  nature  and  the  constitution  of  the  rational 
animal.  And  this  faculty  promises  freedom  from 
hasty  judgment,  and  friendship  toAAmrd  men,  and 
obedience  to  the  gods. 

10.  Throwing  away,  then,  all  things,  hold  to  these 
only  Avhich  are  fcAV ; and  besides  bear  in  mind  that 
every  man  liAms  only  this  present  time,  which  is  an  in- 
divisible point,  and  that  all  the  rest  of  his  life  is  either 
past  or  it  is  uncertain.  Short  then  is  the  time  Avhich 
every  man  lives,  and  small  the  nook  of  the  earth 
Avhere  he  lives ; and  short  too  the  longest  posthumous 
fame,  and  even  this  only  continued  by  a succession  of 
poor  human  beings,  Avho  Avill  very  soon  die,  and  who 
know  not  even  themselves,  much  less  him  who  died 
long  ago. 

11.  To  the  aids  Avhich  have  been  mentioned  let  this 
one  still  be  added : Make  for  thyself  a definition  or 
description  of  the  thing  which  is  presented  to  thee,  so 
as  to  see  distinctly  Avhat  kind  of  a thing  it  is  in  its 
substance,  in  its  nudity,  in  its  complete  entirety,  and 
tell  thyself  its  proper  name,  and  the  names  of  the 
things  of  which  it  has  been  compounded,  and  into 

^ Comp.  viii.  34. 


158 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


which  it  will  be  resolved.  For  nothing  is  so  productive 
of  elevation  of  mind  as  to  be  able  to  examine 
methodically  and  truly  every  object  which  is  presented 
to  thee  in  life,  and  always  to  look  at  things  so  as  to 
see  at  the  same  time  what  kind  of  universe  this  is, 
and  what  kind  of  use  everything  performs  in  it,  and 
what  value  everything  has  with  reference  to  the 
whole,  and  what  with  reference  to  man,  who  is  a 
citizen  of  the  highest  city,  of  which  all  other  cities 
are  like  families ; what  each  thing  is,  and  of  what  it  is 
composed,  and  how  long  it  is  the  nature  of  this  thing 
to  endure  which  now  makes  an  impression  on  me,  and 
what  virtue  I have  need  of  with  respect  to  it,  such  as 
gentleness,  manliness,  truth,  fidelity,  simplicity,  con- 
tentment, and  the  rest.  Wherefore,  on  every  occasion 
a man  should  say : This  comes  from  God  ; and  this  is 
according  to  the  apportionmentf  and  spinning  of  the 
thread  of  destiny,  and  snch-like  coincidence  and 
chance ; and  this  is  from  one  of  the  same  stock,  and  a 
kinsman  and  partner,  one  who  knows  not  however 
what  is  according  to  his  nature.  But  I know ; for  this 
reason  I behave  toward  him  according  to  the  natural 
law  of  fellowship  with  benevolence  and  justice.  At 
the  same  time,  however,  in  things  indifferent*  I 
attempt  to  ascertain  the  value  of  each. 

12.  If  thou  workest  at  that  which  is  before  thee,  fol- 
lowing right  reason  seriously,  vigorously,  calmly,  with- 
out allowing  anything  else  to  distract  thee,  but  keep- 
ing thy  divine  part  pure,  as  if  thou  shouldst  be  bound 
to  give  it  back  immediately;  if  thou  boldest  to  this, 
expecting  nothing,  fearing  nothing,  but  satisfied  with 

* “ Est  et  liorum  quae  media  appellamus  grande  discrimen.”-- 
Seneca,  Ep.  83, 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  AMTONIMUS. 


159 


thy  present  activity  according  to  nature,  and  with 
heroic  truth  in  every  word  and  sound  which  thou 
utterest,  thou  wilt  live  happy.  And  there  is  no  man 
who  is  able  to  prevent  this. 

13.  As  physicians  have  always  their  instruments  and 
knives  ready  for  cases  which  suddenly  require  their 
skill,  so  do  thou  have  principles  ready  for  the  under- 
standing of  things  divine  and  human,  and  for  doing 
everything,  even  the  smallest,  with  a recollection  of 
the  bond  which  unites  the  divine  and  human  to  one 
another.  For  neither  wilt  thou  do  anything  well 
which  pertains  to  man  without  at  the  same  time  hav- 
ing a reference  to  things  divine ; nor  the  contrary. 

Id.  No  longer  wander  at  hazard  ; for  neither  wilt 
thou  read  thy  own  memoirs,*  nor  the  acts  of  the 
ancient  Romans  and  Hellenes,  and  the  selections  from 
books  which  thou  wast  reserving  for  thy  old  age.:}; 
Hasten  then  to  the  end  which  thou  hast  before  thee, 
and,  throwing  away  idle  hopes,  come  to  thy  own  aid, 
if  thou  carest  at  all  for  thyself,  while  it  is  in  thy 
power. 

15.  They  know  not  how  many  things  are  signified 
by  the  words  stealing,  sowing,  buying,  keeping  quiet, 
seeing  what  ought  to  be  done  ; for  this  is  not  effected 
by  the  eyes,  but  by  another  kind  of  vision. 

16.  Body,  soul,  intelligence ; to  the  body  belong 
sensations,  to  the  soul  appetites,  to  the  intelligence 
principles.  To  receive  the  impressions  of  forms  by 


* Memoranda,  notes  and  tlie  like.  See  i.  17. 
t Compare  Fronto,  ii.  9;  a letter  of  Marcus  to  Fronto,  who  was 
then  consul:  “Feci  tamen  mihi  per  hos  dies  excerpta  ex  lihris 
sexaginta  in  quinque  tomis.”  But  he  says  some  of  them  were  small 
books. 


160 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


means  of  appearances  belongs  even  to  animals;  to  be 
pulled  by  tlie  strings*  of  desire  belongs  both  to  wild 
beasts  and  to  men  who  have  made  themselves  into 
women,  and  to  a Phalaris  and  a I^ero ; and  to  have 
the  intelligence  that  guides  to  the  things  which  appear 
suitable  belongs  also  to  those  who  do  not  believe  in  the 
gods,  and  who  betray  their  country,  and  do  their 
impure  deeds  when  they  have  shut  the  doors.  If  then 
everything  else  is  common  to  all  that  I have  mentioned, 
there  remains  that  which  is  peculiar  to  the  good  man, 
to  be  pleased  and  content  with  what  happens,  and  with 
the  thread  which  is  s]um  for  him;  and  not  to  defile 
the  divinity  which  is  planted  in  his  breast,  nor  disturb 
it  by  a crowd  of  images,  but  to  ])reserve  it  tranquil, 
following  it  obediently  as  a god,  neither  saying  any- 
thing contrary  to  the  truth,  nor  doing  anything  con- 
trary to  justice.  And  if  all  men  refuse  to  believe  that 
he  lives  a simple,  modest,  and  contented  life,  he  is 
neither  angry  with  any  of  them,  nor  does  he  deviate 
from  the  way  which  leads  to  the  end  of  life,  to  which 
a man  ought  to  come  pure,  tranquil,  ready  to  depart, 
and  without  any  compulsion  perfectly  reconciled  to  his 
lot. 


* Compare  Plato,  De  Legibus,  and  Antoninus,  ii.  2;  vii.  3;  sii.  19. 


MARCUS  A UBELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


161 


IV. 

That  which  rules  within,  when  it  is  according  to 
nature,  is  so  affected  with  respect  to  the  events  which 
happen,  that  it  always  easily  adapts  itself  to  that 
which  is  possible  and  is  presented  to  it.  For  it  requires 
no  definite  material,  but  it  moves  toward  its  purpose,* 
under  certain  conditions  however;  and  it  makes  a 
material  for  itself  out  of  that  which  opposes  it,  as  fire 
lays  hold  of  what  falls  into  it,  by  w^hich  a small  light 
would  have  been  extinguished : but  when  the  fire  is 
strong,  it  soon  appropriates  to  itself  the  matter  which 
is  heaped  on  it,  and  consumes  it,  and  rises  higher  by 
means  of  this  very  material. 

2.  Let  no  act  be  done  without  a purpose,  nor  other- 
wise than  according  to  the  perfect  principles  of  art. 

3.  Men  seek  retreats  for  themselves,  houses  in  the 
country,  sea-shores  and  mountains ; and  thou  too  art 
wont  to  desire  such  things  very  much.  But  this  is 
altogether  a mark  of  the  most  common  sort  of  men, 
for  it  IS  in  thy  power  whenever  thou  shait  choose  to 
retire  into  thyself.  For  nowhere,  either  with  more 
quiet  or  more  freedom  from  trouble,  does  a man  retire 
than  into  his  own  soul,  particularly  when  he  has 
within  him  such  thoughts  that  by  looking  into  them 
he  is  immediately  in  perfect  tranquillity  ; and  I afilrm 

* Literally  “towards  that  which  leads.”  The  exact  translation 
is  doubtful.  See  Gataker’s  note. 


163 


THE  MEDITATION'S  OF 


that  tranquillity  is  nothing  else  than  the  good  order- 
ing of  the  mind.  Constantly  then  give  to  thyself  this 
retreat,  and  renew  thyself;  and  let  thy  principles  be 
brief  and  fundamental,  which,  as  soon  as  thou  shalt 
recur  to  them,  will  be  sufficient  to  cleanse  the  soul 
completely,  and  to  send  thee  back  free  from  all  discon- 
tent with  the  things  to  which  thou  returnest.  For 
with  what  art  thou  discontented?  With  the  badness 
of  men?  Recall  to  thy  mind  this  conclusion,  that 
rational  animals  exist  for  one  another,  and  that  to 
endure  is  a part  of  justice,  and  that  men  do  wrong 
involuntarily  ; and  consider  how  many  already,  after 
mutual  enmity,  suspicion,  hatred  and  fighting,  have 
been  stretched  dead,  reduced  to  ashes ; and  be  quiet  at 
last.  But  perhaps  thou  art  dissatisfied  with  that 
which  is  assigned  to  thee  out  of  the  universe.  Recall 
to  thy  recollection  this  alternative;  either  there  is 
providence  or  atoms  [fortuitous  concurrence  of  things] ; 
or  remember  the  arguments  by  which  it  has  been 
proved  that  the  world  is  a kind  of  political  community 
[and  be  quiet  at  last].  But  perhaps  corporeal  things 
will  still  fasten  upon  thee.  Consider  then  further  that 
tlie  mind  mingles  not  with  the  breath,  whether  moving 
gently  or  violently,  when  it  has  once  drawn  itself  apart 
and  discovered  its  own  power,  and  think  also  of  all 
that  thou  hast  heard  and  assented  to  about  pain  and 
pleasure  [and  be  quiet  at  last].  But  perhaps  the  desire 
of  the  thing  called  fame  will  torment  thee.  See  how 
soon  everything  is  forgotten,  and  look  at  the  chaos  of 
infinite  time  on  each  side  of  [the  present],  and  the 
emptiness  of  applause,  and  the  changeableness  and 
want  of  judgment  in  those  who  pretend  to  give  praise, 
and  the  narrowness  of  the  space  within  which  it  is 


MAB0U8  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


163 


circumscribed  [and  be  quiet  at  last].  For  the  whole 
earth  is  a point,  and  how  small  a nook  in  it  is  this  thy 
dwelling,  and  how  few  are  there  in  it,  and  what  kind 
of  people  are  they  who  will  praise  thee. 

This  then  remains : Remember  to  retire  into  this 
little  territory  of  thy  own,*  and,  above  all,  do  not  dis- 
tract or  strain  thyself,  but  be  free,  and  look  at  things 
as  a man,  as  a human  being,  as  a citizen,  as  a mortal. 
But  among  the  things  readiest  to  thy  hand  to  which 
thou  shalt  turn,  let  there  be  these,  which  are  two.  One 
is  that  things  do  not  touch  the  soul,  for  they  are 
external  and  remain  immovable ; but  our  perturbations 
come  only  from  the  opinion  which  is  within.  The 
other  is  that  all  these  things,  which  thou  seest,  change 
immediately  and  will  no  longer  be;  and  constantly 
bear  in  mind  how  many  of  these  changes  thou  hast 
already  witnessed.  The  universe  is  transformation : 
life  is  opinion. 

4.  If  our  intellectual  part  is  common,  the  reason 
also,  in  respect  of  which  we  are  rational  beings,  is 
common ; if  this  is  so,  common  also  is  the  reason 
which  commands  us  what  to  do,  and  what  not  to  do ; 
if  this  is  so,  there  is  a common  law  also ; if  this  is  so, 
we  are  fellow-citizens ; if  this  is  so,  we  are  members  of 
some  political  community ; if  this  is  so,  the  world  is  in 
a manner  a state.];  For  of  what  other  common  politi- 
cal community  will  any  one  say  that  the  whole  human 
race  are  members?  And  from  thence,  from  this  com- 
mon political  community  comes  also  our  very  intel- 
lectual faculty  and  reasoning  faculty  and  our  capacity 

* Tecum  liabita,  noris  quam  sit  tibi  curta  supellex. — Persius, 
iv.  53, 

] Compare  Cicero  De  Legibus,  i.  7. 


1G4 


THE  MEDITATION'S  OF 


for  law ; or  whence  do  they  come  ? For  as  my  earthly 
part  is  a j)ortion  given  to  me  from  certain  earth,  and 
that  which  is  wateiy  from  another  element,  and  that 
which  is  hot  and  fiery  from  some  peculiar  source  (for 
nothing  comes  out  of  that  which  is  nothing,  as  nothing 
also  returns  to  non-existence),  so  also  the  intellectual 
part  comes  from  some  source. 

5.  Death  is  such  as  generation  is,  a mystery  of 
nature ; a composition  out  of  the  same  elements,  and  a 
decomposition  into  the  same;  and  altogether  not  a 
thing  of  which  any  man  should  be  ashamed,  for  it  is 
not  contrary  to  [the  nature  of]  a reasonable  animal, 
and  not  contrary  to  the  reason  of  our  constitution. 

6.  It  is  natural  that  these  things  should  be  done  by 
such  persons,  it  is  a matter  of  necessity  ; and  if  a man 
will  not  have  it  so,  he  will  not  allow  the  fig-tree  to 
have  juice.  But  by  all  means  bear  this  in  mind,  that 
within  a very  short  time  both  thou  and  he  will  be 
dead ; and  soon  not  even  your  names  will  be  left 
behind. 

7.  Take  away  thy  opinion,  and  then  there  is  taken 
awa}^  the  complaint,  “ I have  been  harmed.”  Take 
away  the  complaint,  “ I have  been  harmed,”  and  the 
harm  is  taken  away. 

8.  That  which  does  not  make  a man  worse  than  he 
was,  also  does  not  make  his  life  worse,  nor  does  it 
harm  him  either  from  without  or  from  within. 

9.  The  nature  of  that  which  is  [universally]  useful 
has  been  compelled  to  do  this. 

10.  Consider  that  everything  which  happens,  hap- 
pens justly,  and  if  thou  observest  carefully,  thou  wilt 
find  it  to  be  so.  I do  not  say  only  with  respect  to  the 
continuity  of  the  series  of  things,  but  with  respect  to 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


165 


what  is  just,  and  as  if  it  were  done  by  one  who  assigns 
to  each,  thing  its  value.  Observe  then  as  thou  hast 
begun  ; and  whatever  thou  doest,  do  it  in  conjunction 
Avith  this,  the  being  good,  and  in  the  sense  in  whjch  a 
man  is  properly  understood  to  be  good.  Keep  to  this 
in  every  action. 

11.  Do  not  have  such  an  opinion  of  things  as  he  has 
who  does  thee  Avrong,  or  such  as  he  wishes  thee  to 
have,  but  look  at  them  as  they  are  in  truth. 

12.  A man  should  ahvays  have  these  tAVO  rules  in 
readiness ; the  one,  to  do  only  whatever  the  reason  of 
the  ruling  and  legislating  faculty  may  suggest  for  the 
use  of  men ; the  other,  to  change  thy  opinion,  if  there 
is  any  one  at  hand  Avho  sets  thee  right  and  moves  thee 
from  any  opinion.  But  this  change  of  opinion  must 
proceed  only  from  a certain  persuasion,  as  of  Avhat  is 
just  or  of  common  adA'^antage,  and  the  like,  not  because 
it  appears  pleasant  or  brings  reputation. 

13.  Hast  thou  reason?  I have.  Why  then  dost  not 
thou  use  it  ? For  if  this  does  its  own  Avork,  Avhat  else 
dost  thou  Avish  ? 

14.  Thou  hast  existed  as  a part.  Thou  shaft  dis- 
appear in  that  Avhich  produced  thee ; but  rather  thou 
shalt  be  received  back  into  its  seminal  principle  by 
transmutation. 

15.  Many  grains  of  frankincense  on  the  same  altar ; 
one  falls  before,  another  falls  after ; but  it  makes  no 
difference. 

16.  Within  ten  days  thou  Avilt  seem  a god  to  those 
to  Avhom  thou  art  now  a beast  and  an  ape,  if  thou  Avilt 
return  to  thy  principles  and  the  worship  of  reason. 

17.  Do  not  act  as  if  thou  wert  going  to  live  ten 
thousand  years.  Death  hangs  over  thee.  While  thou 
livestj  while  it  is  in  thy  power,  be  good. 


166 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


18.  How  much  trouble  he  avoids  who  does  not  look 
to  see  what  his  neighbor  says  or  does  or  thinks,  but 
only  to  what  he  does  himself,  that  it  may  be  just  and 
pure ; or  as  Agathonf  sa^^s,  look  not  round  at  the  de- 
praved morals  of  others,  but  run  straight  along  the 
line  without  deviating  from  it. 

19.  He  who  has  a vehement  desire  for  posthumous 

fame  does  not  consider  that  every  one  of  those  who 
remember  him  will  himself  also  die  very  soon ; then 
again  also  they  who  have  succeeded  them,  until  the 
whole  remembrance  shall  have  been  extinguished  as  it 
is  transmitted  through  men  who  foolishly  admii^e  and 
perish.  But  suppose  that  those  who  Avill  remember 
are  even  immortal,  and  that  the  remembrance  will  be 
immortal,  what  then  is  this  to  thee?  And  I say  not 
what  is  it  to  the  dead,  but  what  is  it  to  the  living. 
What  is  praise,  exceptf  indeed  so  far  as  it  hasf  a cer- 
tain utility?  For  thou  nowrejectest  unseasonably  the 
gift  of  nature,  clinging  to  something  else.  . . .f 

20.  Everything  which  is  in  any  way  beautiful  is 
beautiful  in  itself,  and  terminates  in  itself,  not  having 
praise  as  part  of  itself.  Neither  worse  then  nor  better 
is  a thing  made  by  being  praised.  I affirm  this  also 
of  the  things  which  are  called  beautiful  by  the  vulgar ; 
for  example,  material  things  and  works  of  art.  That 
which  is  really  beautiful  has  no  need  of  anything ; not 
more  than  law,  not  more  than  truth,  not  more  than 
benevolence  or  modesty.  Which  of  these  things  is 
beautiful  because  it  is  praised,  or  spoiled  by  being 
blamed?  Is  such  a thing  as  an  emerald  made  worse 
than  it  was,  if  it  is  not  praised  ? or  gold,  ivory,  purple, 
a lyre,  a little  knife,  a flower,  a shrub  ? 

21.  If  souls  continue  to  exist,  how  does  the  air  con- 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


16? 


tain  them  from  eternity?  But  how  does  the  earth 
contain  the  bodies  of  those  who  have  been  buried 
from  time  so  remote?  For  as  here  the  mutation  of 
these  bodies  after  a certain  continuance,  whatever  it 
may  be,  and  their  dissolution  make  room  for  other 
dead  bodies;  so  the  souls  which  are  removed  into  the 
air  after  subsisting  for  some  time  are  transmuted  and  dib 
fused,  and  assume  a fiery  nature  b}^  being  received  into 
the  seminal  intelligence  of  the  universe,  and  in  this  way 
make  room  for  the  fresh  souls  which  come  to  dwell 
there.  And  this  is  the  answer  which  a man  might 
give  on  the  hypothesis  of  souls  continuing  to  exist. 
But  we  must  not  only  think  of  the  number  of  bodies 
which  are  thus  buried,  but  also  of  the  number  of 
animals  which  are  daily  eaten  by  us  and  the  other 
animals.  For  what  a number  is  consumed,  and  thus 
in  a manner  buried  in  the  bodies  of  those  who  feed  on 
them  ? And  nevertheless  this  earth  receives  them  by 
reason  of  the  changes  [of  these  bodies]  into  blood, 
and  the  transformations  into  the  aerial,  or  the  fiery 
element. 

What  is  the  investigation  into  the  truth  in  this  mat- 
ter ? The  division  into  that  which  is  material  and  that 
which  is  the  cause  of  form  [the  formal]  (vii.  29). 

22.  Do  not  be  whirled  about,  but  in  every  movement 
have  respect  to  justice,  and  on  the  occasion  of  every 
impression  maintain  the  faculty  of  comprehension  [or 
understanding]. 

23.  Everything  harmonizes  with  me,  which  is  har- 
monious to  thee,  O Universe.  Nothing  for  me  is  too 
early  nor  too  late,  which  is  in  due  time  for  thee. 
Everything  is  fruit  to  me  which  thy  seasons  bring,  O 
Nature : from  thee  are  all  things,  in  thee  are  all  things, 


1G8 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


to  thee  all  things  return.  The  poet  says,  Dear  City 
of  Cecrops  ; and  wilt  not  thou  say,  Dear  city  of  Zeus  ? 

24:.  Occupy  thyself  with  few  things,  says  the  philos- 
opher, if  thou  wouldst  be  tranquil.  But  consider  if  it 
would  not  be  better  to  say.  Do  what  is  necessary,  and 
whatever  the  reason  of  the  animal  which  is  naturally 
social  requires,  and  as  it  requires.  For  this  brings  not 
only  the  tranquillity  which  comes  from  doing  well, 
but  also  that  which  comes  from  doing  few  things. 
For  the  greatest  part  of  what  we  say  and  do  being  un- 
necessary, if  a man  takes  this  away,  he  will  have  more 
leisure  and  less  uneasiness.  Accordingly  on  every 
occasion  a man  shonld  ask  himself.  Is  this  one  of  the 
unnecessary  things  ? How  a man  should  take  away  not 
onl}'-  unnecessary  acts,  but  also  unnecessary  thoughts, 
for  thus  superfluous  acts  will  not  follow  after. 

25.  Try  how  the  life  of  the  good  man  suits  thee, 
the  life  of  him  who  is  satisfied  with  his  portion  out  of 
the  whole,  and  satisfled  with  his  own  just  acts  and 
benevolent  disposition. 

26.  Hast  thou  seen  those  things  ? Look  also  at 
these.  Do  not  disturb  thyself.  Make  thyself  all 
simplicity.  Does  any  one  do  wrong  ? It  is  to  himself 
that  he  does  the  wrong.  Has  anything  happened  to 
thee  1 W ell,  out  of  the  universe  from  the  beginning 
everything  which  happens  has  been  apportioned  and 
spun  out  to  thee.  In  a word,  thy  life  is  short.  Thou 
must  turn  to  profit  the  present  by  the  aid  of  reason 
and  justice.  Be  sober  in  thy  relaxation. 

27.  Either  it  is  a well  arranged  universe*  or  a chaos 
huddled  together,  but  still  a universe.  But  can  a 

* Antonius  here  uses  the  word  n66iioi  both  in  the  sense  of  the 
Universe  and  of  Order;  and  it  is  difficult  to  express  his  meaning. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


169 


certain  order  subsist  in  tbee,  and  disorder  in  the  All  ? 
And  this,  too,  when  all  things  are  so  separated  and 
dilfused  and  sympathetic. 

28.  A black  character,  a womanish  character,  a 
stubborn  character,  bestial,  childish,  animal,  stupid, 
counterfeit,  scurrilous,  fraudulent,  tyrannical. 

29.  If  he  is  a stranger  to  the  universe  who  does  not 
know  what  is  in  it,  no  less  is  he  a stranger  who  does 
not  know  what  is  going  on  it.  He  is  a runaway,  who 
flies  from  social  reason  ; he  is  blind,  who  shuts  the  eyes 
of  the  understanding ; he  is  poor,  Avho  has  need  of 
another,  and  has  not  from  himself  all  things  which  are 
useful  for  life.  He  is  an  abscess  on  the  universe  who 
Avithdraws  and  separates  himself  from  the  reason  of 
our  common  nature  through  being  displeased  Avith  the 
things  Avhich  happen,  for  the  same  nature  produces 
this,  and  has  produced  thee  too ; he  is  a piece  rent 
asunder  from  the  state,  Avho  tears  bis  own  soul  from 
that  of  reasonable  animals,  Avhich  is  one. 

30.  The  one  is  a philosopher  Avithout  a tunic,  and  the 
other  without  a book ; here  is  another  half-naked. 
Bread  I have  not,  he  says,  and  I abide  by  reason. 
And  I do  not  get  the  means  of  living  out  of  my  learn- 
ing,f  and  I abide  [by  my  reason]. 

31.  Love  the  art,  poor  as  it  may  be,  Avhich  thou 
hast  learned,  and  be  content  with  it ; and  pass  through 
the  rest  of  life  like  one  Avho  has  intrusted  to  the  gods 
with  his  Avhole  soul  all  that  he  has,  making  thyself 
neither  the  tyrant  nor  the  slave  of  any  man. 

32.  Consider,  for  example,  the  times  of  Vespasian. 
Thou  wilt  see  all  these  things,  people  marrying,  bring- 
ing up  children,  sick,  dying,  warring,  feasting,  trafiick- 
ing,  cultivating  the  ground,  flattering,  obstinately 


170 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


arrogant,  suspecting,  plotting,  wishing  for  some  to  die, 
grumbling  about  the  present,  loving,  heaping  up 
treasure,  desiring  consulship,  kingly  power.  Well, 
then,  that  life  of  these  people  no  longer  exists  at  all. 
Again,  remove  to  the  times  of  Trajan.  Again,  all  is 
the  same.  Their  life,  too,  is  gone.  In  like  manner 
view  also  the  other  epochs  of  time  and  of  whole 
nations,  and  see  how  many  after  great  efforts  soon  fell 
and  were  resolved  into  the  elements.  But  chiefly  thou 
shouldst  think  of  those  whom  thou  hast  thyself  known 
distracting  themselves  about  idle  things,  neglecting  to 
do  what  was  in  accordance  with  their  proper  constitu- 
tion, and  to  hold  firmly  to  this  and  to  be  content  with 
it.  And  herein  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  the 
attention  given  to  everything  has  its  proper  value  and 
proportion.  For  thus  thou  wilt  not  be  dissatisfied,  if 
thou  applies!  thyself  to  smaller  matters  no  further  than 
is  fit. 

33.  The  words  which  were  formerly  familiar  are 
now  antiquated ; so  also  the  names  of  those  who  were 
famed  of  old,  are  now  in  a manner  antiquated : 
Camillus,  Caeso,  Volesus,  Leonnatus,  and  a little  after 
also  Scipio  and  Cato,  then  Augustus,  then  also  Hadri- 
anus  and  Antoninus.  For  all  things  soon  pass  away 
and  become  a mere  tale,  and  complete  oblivion  soon 
buries  them.  And  I say  this  of  those  who  have  shone 
in  a wondrous  Avay.  For  the  rest,  as  soon  as  they 
have  breathed  out  their  breath,  they  are  gone,  and  no 
man  speaks  of  them.  And,  to  conclude  the  matter, 
Avhat  is  even  an  eternal  remembrance  ? A mere 
nothing.  What,  then,  is  that  about  which  we  ought  to 
employ  our  serious  pains?  This  one  thing,  thoughts 
just,  and  acts  social,  and  words  which  never  lie,  and  a 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


171 


disposition  which  gladly  accepts  all  that  happens,  as 
necessary,  as  usual,  as  flowing  from  a principle  and 
source  of  the  same  kind. 

34.  Willingly  give  thyself  up  to  Clotho  [one  of  the 
fates],  allowing  her  to  spin  thy  thread  f into  whatever 
things  she  pleases. 

35.  Everything  is  only  for  a day,  both  that  which 
remembers  and  that  which  is  remembered. 

36.  Observe  constantly  that  all  things  take  place  by 
change,  and  accustom  thyself  to  consider  that  the 
nature  of  the  Universe  loves  nothing  so  much  as  to 
change  the  things  which  are  and  to  make  new  things 
like  them.  For  everything  that  exists  is  in  a manner 
the  seed  of  that  which  will  be.  But  thou  art  thinking 
only  of  seeds  which  are  cast  into  the  earth  or  into  a 
womb  : but  this  is  a very  vulgar  notion. 

37.  Thou  wilt  soon  die,  and  thou  art  not  yet  simple, 
nor  free  from  perturbations,  nor  without  suspicion  of 
being  hurt  by  external  things,  nor  kindly  disposed 
toward  all ; nor  dost  thou  yet  place  wisdom  only  in 
acting  justly. 

38.  Examine  men’s  ruling  principles,  even  those  of 
the  wise,  what  kind  of  things  they  avoid,  and  what 
kind  they  pursue. 

39.  What  is  evil  to  thee  does  not  subsist  in  the 
ruling  principle  of  another  ; nor  yet  in  any  turning 
and  mutation  of  thy  corporeal  covering.  Where  is  it 
then?  It  is  in  that  part  of  thee  in  which  subsists  the 
power  of  forming  opinions  about  evils.  Let  this  power 
then  not  form  [such]  opinions,  and  all  is  well.  And  if 
that  which  is  nearest  to  it,  the  poor  body,  is  cut,  burnt, 
filled  with  matter  and  rottenness,  nevertheless  let  the 
part  which  forms  opinions  about  these  things  be  quiet, 


172 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


that  is,  let  it  judge  that  nothing  is  either  bad  or  good 
which  can  happen  equally  to  the  bad  man  and  the  good. 
For  that  which  happens  equally  to  him  who  lives  con- 
trary to  nature  and  to  him  who  lives  according  to 
nature,  is  neither  according  to  nature  nor  contrary  to 
nature. 

40.  Constantly  regard  the  universe  as  one  living 
being,  having  one  substance  and  one  soul ; and  observe 
how  all  things  have  reference  to  one  perception,  the 
perception  of  this  one  living  being ; and  how  all  things 
act  with  one  movement ; and  how  all  things  are  the 
co-operating  causes  of  all  things  which  exist ; observe 
too  the  continuous  spinning  of  the  thread  and  the 
contexture  of  the  web. 

41.  Thou  art  a little  soul  bearing  about  a corpse,  as 
Epictetus  used  to  say  (i.  c.  19). 

42.  It  is  no  evil  for  things  to  undergo  change, 
and  no  good  for  things  to  subsist  in  consequence  of 
change. 

43.  Time  is  like  a river  made  up  of  the  events  which 
happen,  and  a violent  stream ; for  as  soon  as  a thing 
has  been  seen,  it  is  carried  away,  and  another  comes  in 
its  place,  and  this  will  be  carried  away  too. 

44.  Everything  which  happens  is  as  familiar  and 
well  known  as  the  rose  in  spring  and  the  fruit  in 
summer  ; for  such  is  disease,  and  death,  and  calumny, 
and  treachery,  and  whatever  else  delights  fools  or 
vexes  them. 

45.  In  the  series  of  things  those  which  follow  are 
always  aptly  fitted  to  those  which  have  gone  before; 
for  this  series  is  not  like  a mere  enumeration  of  dis- 
jointed things,  which  has  only  a necessary  sequence, 
but  it  is  a rational  connection ; and  as  all  existing 


MARGU8  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


173 


things  are  arranged  together  harmoniously,  so  the 
things  which  come  into  existence  exhibit  no  mere  suc- 
cession, but  a certain  wonderful  relationship  (vi.  38 ; 
vii.  9 ; vii.  75,  note). 

46.  Always  remember  the  saying  of  Heraclitus,  that 
the  death  of  earth  is  to  become  water,  and  the  death 
of  water  is  to  become  air,  and  the  death  of  air  is  to 
become  fire,  and  reversely.  And  think  too  of  him  who 
forgets  whither  the  way  leads,  and  that  men  quarrel 
with  that  with  which  they  are  most  constantly  in 
communion,  the  reason  which  governs  the  universe; 
and  the  things  which  they  daily  meet  with  seem  to 
them  strange : and  consider  that  Ave  ought  not  to  act 
and  speak  as  if  Ave  Avere  asleep,  for  evmn  in  sleep  Ave 
seem  to  act  and  speak  ; and  that  f we  ought  not,  like 
children  Avho  learn  from  their  parents,  simply  to  act 
and  speak  as  we  have  been  taught.f 

47.  If  any  god  told  thee  that  thou  shalt  die  to-mor- 
roAv,  or  certainly  on  the  day  after  to-morrow,  thou 
Avouldst  not  care  much  Avhether  it  was  on  the  third 
day  or  on  the  morrow,  unless  thou  Avast  in  the  highest 
degree  mean-spirited — for  hoAv  small  is  the  differ- 
ence?— so  think  it  no  great  thing  to  die  after  as  many 
years  as  thou  canst  name  rather  than  to-morrow. 

48.  Think  continually  hoAV  many  physicians  are 
dead  after  often  contracting  their  eyebroAvs  over  the 
sick ; and  how  many  astrologers  after  predicting  Avith 
great  pretensions  the  deaths  of  others  ; and  hoAv  many 
philosophers  after  endless  discourses  on  death  or  im- 
mortality ; how  many  heroes  after  killing  thousands ; 
and  hoAv  many  tyrants  Avho  have  used  their  power 
over  men’s  lives  with  terrible  insolence  as  if  they  Avere 
immortal ; and  hoAV  many  cities  are  entirely  dead,  so 


174 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


to  speak,  Helice*  and  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  and 
others  innumerable.  Add  to  the  reckoning  all  whom 
thou  hast  known,  one  after  another.  One  man  after 
burjdng  another  has  been  laid  out  dead,  and  another 
buries  him  ; and  all  this  in  a short  time.  To  conclude, 
always  observe  how  ephemeral  and  worthless  human 
tilings  are,  and  what  was  yesterday  a little  mucus,  to- 
morrow will  be  a mummy  or  ashes.  Pass  then  through 
this  little  space  of  time  conformably  to  nature,  and 
end  thy  journey  in  content,  just  as  an  olive  falls  off 
when  it  is  ripe,  blessing  nature  who  produced  it,  and 
thanking  the  tree  on  which  it  grew. 

49.  Be  like  the  promotory  against  which  the  waves 
continually  break,  but  it  stands  firm  and  tames  the 
fury  of  the  water  around  it. 

Unhappy  am  I,  because  this  has  happened  to  me — 
Not  so,  but  Happy  am  I,  though  this  has  happened  to 
me,  because  I continue  free  from  pain,  neither  crushed 
by  the  ])resent  nor  fearing  the  future.  For  such  a 
thing  as  this  might  have  happened  to  every  man ; but 
every  man  would  not  have  continued  free  from  pain 
on  such  an  occasion.  Why,  then,  is  that  rather  a mis- 
fortune than  this  a good  fortune?  And  dost  thou  in 
all  cases  call  that  a roan’s  misfortune,  which  is  not  a 
deviation  from  man’s  nature  ? And  does  a thing  seem  to 
thee  to  be  a deviation  from  man’s  nature,  when  it  is  not 
contrary  to  the  will  of  man’s  nature?  W ell,  thou  knowest 
the  will  of  nature.  Will  then  this  which  has  happened 
prevent  thee  from  being  just,  magnanimous,  temper- 
ate, prudent,  secure  against  inconsiderate  opinions  and 

* Ovid,  Met.  XV.  293: 

Si  quaeras  Helicen  et  Burin  Achaidas  urbes, 

Invenies  sub  aquis. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTOmNUS. 


175 


falsehood ; will  it  prevent  thee  from  having  modesty, 
freedom,  and  everything  else,  by  the  presence  of 
which  man’s  nature  obtains  all  that  is  its  own?  Re- 
member, too,  on  every  occasion  which  leads  thee  to 
vexation  to  apply  this  principle:  not  that  this  is  a mis- 
fortune, but  that  to  bear  it  nobly  is  good  fortune. 

50.  It  is  a vulgar,  but  still  a useful  help  toward  con- 
tempt of  death,  to  pass  in  revieAv  those  Avho  have 
tenaciously  stuck  to  life.  What  more  then  have  they 
gained  than  those  who  have  died  early?  Certainly 
they  lie  in  their  tombs  someAvhere  at  last,  Cadicianus, 
Fabius,  Julianus,  Lepidus,  or  any  one  else  like  them, 
Avho  have  carried  out  many  to  be  buried,  and  then 
Avere  carried  out  themselves.  Altogether  the  inter- 
val is  small  [between  birth  and  death] ; and  consider 
Avith  hoAV  much  trouble,  and  in  company  Avith  Avhat 
sort  of  people,  and  in  Avhat  a feeble  body  this  interval 
is  laboriously  passed.  Do  not  then  consider  life  a 
thing  of  any  Amlue.f  For  look  to  the  immensity  of 
time  behind  thee,  and  to  the  time  Avhich  is  before  thee, 
another  boundless  space.  In  this  infinity  then  what  is 
the  difference  betAveen  him  Avho  liAms  three  days  and 
him  Avho  liAms  three  generations  ?* 

51.  Ahvays  run  to  the  short  way  ; and  the  short  Avay 
is  the  natural : accordingly  say  and  do  everything  in 
conformity  Avith  the  soundest  reason.  For  such  a 
purpose  frees  a man  from  trouble,!  and  warfare,  and 
all  artifice  and  ostentatious  display. 

* An  allusion  to  Homer’s  Nestor,  wlio  was  living  at  the  war  of 
Troy  among  the  third  generation,  like  old  Parr  with  his  hundred  and 
fifty-two  years,  and  some  others  in  modern  times  who  have  beaten 
Parr  by  twenty  or  thirty  years,  if  it  is  true;  and  yet  they  died  at  last. 


176 


THE  MEDITATI0N8  OP 


Y. 

In  the  morning  when  thou  risest  unwillingly,  let  this 
thought  be  present — I am  rising  to  the  work  of  a 
human  being.  Why  then  am  I dissatisfied  if  I am 
going  to  do  the  things  for  which  I exist  and  for  which 
I was  brought  into  the  world  ? Or  have  I been  made 
for  this,  to  lie  in  the  bedclothes  and  keep  myself  warm  ? 
But  this  is  more  pleasant.  Dost  thou  exist  then  to 
take  thy  pleasure,  and  not  at  all  for  action  or  exer- 
tion ? Dost  thou  not  see  the  little  plants,  the  little 
birds,  the  ants,  the  spiders,  the  bees  working  together 
to  put  in  order  their  several  parts  of  the  universe  ? 
And  art  thou  unwilling  to  do  the  work  of  a human 
being,  and  dost  thou  not  make  haste  to  do  that  which 
is  according  to  thy  nature?  But  it  is  necessary  to  take 
rest  also.  It  is  necessary ; however  nature  has  fixed 
bounds  to  this  too : she  has  fixed  bounds  both  to  eating 
and  drinking,  and  yet  thou  goest  beyond  these  bounds, 
beyond  what  is  sufficient ; yet  in  thy  acts  it  is  not  so, 
but  thou  stoppest  short  of  what  thou  canst  do.  So 
thou  lovest  not  thyself,  for  if  thou  didst,  thou  wouldst 
love  th}^  nature  and  her  wdll.  But  those  who  love 
their  several  arts  exhaust  themselves  in  working  at 
them  unwashed  and  without  food;  but  thou  valuest 
thy  own  nature  less  than  the  turner  values  the  turning 
art,  or  the  dancer  the  dancing  art,  or  the  lover  of 
money  values  his  money,  or  the  vainglorious  man  his 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS.  177 

little  glory.  And  such  men,  when  they  have  a violent 
affection  to  a thing,  choose  neither  to  eat  nor  to  sleep 
rather  than  to  perfect  the  things  which  they  care  for. 
But  are  the  acts  which  concern  society  more  vile  in 
thy  eyes  and  less  worthy  of  thy  labor? 

2.  How  easy  it  is  to  repel  and  to  wipe  away  eveiy 
impression  which  is  troublesome  or  unsuitable,  and 
immediately  to  be  in  all  tranquillitj’'. 

3.  Judge  every  word  and  deed  which  are  according 
to  nature  to  be  fit  for  thee ; and  be  not  diverted  by 
the  blame  which  follows  from  any  people,  nor  by  their 
words,  but  if  a thing  is  good  to  be  done  or  said,  do  not 
consider  it  unworthy  of  thee.  For  those  persons  have 
their  peculiar  leading  principle  and  follow  their  pecu- 
liar movement ; which  things  do  not  thou  regard,  but 
go  straight  on,  following  thy  own  natm’e  and  the  com- 
mon nature ; and  the  way  of  both  is  one. 

4.  I go  through  the  things  which  happen  according 
to  nature  until  I shall  fall  and  rest,  breathing  out  my 
breath  into  that  element  out  of  which  I daily  draw  it 
in,  and  falling  upon  that  earth  out  of  which  my  father 
collected  the  seed,  and  my  mother  the  blood,  and  my 
nurse  the  milk  ; out  of  which  during  so  many  years  I 
have  been  supplied  with  food  and  drink ; which  bears 
me  when  I tread  on  it  and  abuse  it  for  so  many 
purposes. 

5.  Thou  sayest,  men  cannot  admire  the  sharpness  of 
thy  wits — Be  it  so  ; but  there  are  many  other  things 
of  which  thou  canst  not  say,  I am  not  formed  for  them 
by  nature.  Show  those  qualities  then  which  are  alto- 
gether in  thy  power : sincerity,  gravity,  endurance  of 
labor,  aversion  to  pleasure,  contentment  with  thy  por- 
tion and  with  few  things,  benevolence,  frankness,  no 


178 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


love  of  superfluity,  freedom  from  trifling  magnanimity. 
Dost  thou  not  see  how  many  qualities  thou  art  imme- 
diately able  to  exhibit,  in  which  there  is  no  excuse  of 
natural  incapacity  and  unfitness,  and  yet  thou  still 
remainest  voluntarily  below  the  mark?  or  art  thou 
compelled  through  being  defectively  furnished  by 
nature  to  murmur,  and  to  be  stingy,  and  to  flatter,  and 
to  find  fault  with  thy  poor  body,  and  to  try  to  please 
men,  and  to  make  great  display,  and  to  be  so  restless 
in  thy  mind?  No,  by  the  gods;  but  thou  mightest 
have  been  delivered  from  these  things  long  ago.  Only 
if  in  truth  thou  canst  be  charged  with  being  rather 
slow  and  dull  of  comprehension,  thou  must  exert  thy- 
self about  this  also,  not  neglecting  it  nor  yet  taking 
pleasure  in  thy  dullness. 

6.  One  man,  when  he  has  done  a service  to  another, 
is  ready  to  set  it  down  to  his  account  as  a favor  con- 
ferred. Another  is  not  ready  to  do  this,  but  still  in  his 
own  mind  he  thinks  of  the  man  as  his  debtor,  and  he 
knows  what  he  has  done.  A third  in  a manner  does 
not  even  know  what  he  has  done,  but  he  is  like  a vine 
which  has  produced  grapes,  and  seeks  for  nothing 
more  after  it  has  once  produced  its  proper  fruit.  As  a 
horse  when  he  has  run,  a dog  when  he  has  tracked  the 
game,  a bee  when  it  has  made  the  honey,  so  a man 
when  he  has  done  a good  act,  does  not  call  out  for 
others  to  come  and  see,  but  he  goes  on  to  another  act, 
as  a vine  goes  on  to  produce  again  the  grapes  in 
season.  Must  a man  then  be  one  of  these,  who  in  a 
manner  act  thus  without  observing  it  ? Y es.  But  this 
very  thing  is  necessary,  the  observation  of  what  a man 
is  doing ; for,  it  may  be  said,  it  is  characteristic  of  the 
social  animal  to  perceive  that  he  is  working  in  a social 


MABOUS  A URELinS  ANTOmNUS. 


m 

manner,  and  indeed  to  wish  that  his  social  partner  also 
should  perceive  it.  It  is  true  what  thou  sayest,  but 
thou  dost  not  rightly  understand  what  is  now  said ; 
and  for  this  reason  thou  wilt  become  one  of  those  of 
whom  I spoke  before,  for  even  they  are  misled  by  a 
certain  show  of  reason.  But  if  thou  wilt  choose  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  what  is  said,  do  not  fear 
that  for  this  reason  thou  wilt  omit  any  social  act. 

7.  A prayer  of  the  Athenians:  Rain,  rain,  O dear 
Zeus,  down  on  the  plowed  fields  of  the  Athenians, 
and  on  the  plains.  In  truth  we  ought  not  to  pray  at 
all,  or  we  ought  to  pray  in  this  simple  and  noble 
fashion. 

8.  Just  as  we  must  understand  when  it  is  said.  That 
^sculapius  prescribed  to  this  man  horse-exercise,  or 
bathing  in  cold  water,  or  going  without  shoes,  so  we 
must  understand  it  when  it  is  said.  That  the  nature  of 
the  universe  prescribed  to  this  man  disease  or  mutila- 
tion or  loss  of  anything  else  of  the  kind.  For  in  the 
first  case  prescribed  means  something  like  this : he 
prescribed  this  for  this  man  as  a thing  adapted  to  pro- 
cure health ; and  in  the  second  case  it  means,  that 
which  happens*  to  [or  suits]  every  man  is  fixed  m a 
manner  for  him  suitably  to  his  destiny.  For  this  is 
what  we  mean  when  we  say  that  things  are  suitable  to 
us,  as  the  workmen  say  of  squared  stones  in  walls  or 
the  pyramids,  that  they  are  suitable,  wdien  they  fit 
them  to  one  another  in  some  kind  of  connection.  For 
there  is  altogether  one  fitness  [harmony].  And  as 
the  universe  is  made  up  out  of  ail  bodies  to  be  such  a 
body  as  it  is,  so  out  of  all  existing  causes  necessity 
[destiny]  is  made  up  to  be  such  a cause  as  it  is.  And 


*In  this  section  there  is  a play  on  the  meaning  of  6vj.il3aiveiv. 


180 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


even  those  who  are  completely  ignorant  understand 
what  I mean,  for  they  say,  It  [necessity,  destiny] 
brought  this  to  such  a person.  This,  then,  was 
brought  and  this  was  prescribed  to  him.  Let  us  then 
receive  these  things,  as  well  as  those  which  ..^sculapius 
prescribes.  Many,  as  a matter  of  course,  even  among 
his  prescriptions,  are  disagreeable,  but  we  accept  them 
in  the  hope  of  health.  Let  the  perfecting  and  accom- 
plishment of  the  things,  which  the  common  nature 
judges  to  be  good,  be  judged  by  thee  to  be  of  the  same 
kind  as  thy  health.  And  so  accept  everything  which 
happens,  even  if  it  seem  disagreeable,  because  it  leads 
to  this,  to  the  health  of  the  universe  and  to  the  pros- 
perity and  felicity  of  Zeus  [the  universe].  For  he 
would  not  have  brought  on  any  man  what  he  has  brought, 
if  it  were  not  useful  for  the  whole.  Neither  does  the 
nature  of  anything,  whatever  it  may  be,  cause  any- 
thing which  is  not  suitable  to  that  which  is  directed  by 
it.  For  two  reasons,  then,  it  is  right  to  be  content 
with  that  which  happens  to  thee ; the  one,  because  it 
was  done  for  thee  and  prescribed  for  thee,  and  in  a 
manner  had  reference  to  thee,  originally  from  the 
most  ancient  causes  spun  with  thy  destiny ; and  the 
other,  because  even  that  which  comes  severally  to 
every  man  is  to  the  power  which  administers  the  uni- 
verse a cause  of  felicity  and  perfection,  nay  even  of  its 
very  continuance.  For  the  integrity  of  the  whole  is 
mutilated,  if  thou  cuttest  off  anything  whatever  from 
the  conjunction  and  the  continuity  either  of  the  parts 
or  of  the  causes.  And  thou  dost  cut  off,  as  far  as  it  is 
in  thy  power,  when  thou  art  dissatisfied,  and  in  a 
manner  triest  to  put  anything  out  of  the  way. 

9.  Be  not  disgusted,  nor  discouraged,  nor  dissatisfied, 


MARCUS  A URELiUS  ANTONIFUS. 


181 


if  thou  dost  not  succeed  in  doing  everything  according 
to  right  principles ; but  when  thou  hast  failed,  return 
back  again,  and  be  content  if  the  greater  part  of  what 
thou  doest  is  consistent  with  man’s  nature,  and  love 
this  to  which  thou  returnest ; and  do  not  return  to 
philosophy  as  if  she  were  a master,  but  act  like  those 
who  have  sore  eyes  and  apply  a bit  of  sponge  and  egg, 
or  as  another  applies  a plaster,  or  drenching  with 
water.  For  thus  thou  wilt  not  fail  to  f obey  reason, 
and  thou  wilt  repose  in  it.  And  remember  that  philoso- 
phy requires  only  the  things  which  th}’"  nature  requires ; 
but  thou  wouldst  have  something  else  which  is  not  ac- 
cording to  nature.  It  may  be  objected.  Why,  what 
is  more  agreeable  than  this  [which  I am  doing]  ? But 
is  not  this  the  very  reason  why  pleasure  deceives  us  ? 
And  consider  if  magnanimity,  freedom,  simplicity, 
equanimity,  piety,  are  not  more  agreeable.  For  what 
is  more  agreeable  than  wisdom  itself,  when  thou 
thinkest  of  the  security  and  the  happy  course  of  all 
things  which  depend  on  the  faculty  of  understanding 
and  knowledge? 

10.  Things  are  in  such  a kind  of  envelopment  that 
they  have  seemed  to  philosophers,  not  a few  nor  those 
common  philosophers,  altogether  unintelligible;  nay 
even  to  the  Stoics  themselves  they  seem  dilficult  to 
understand.  And  all  our  assent  is  changeable;  for 
where  is  the  man  who  never  changes?  Carry  thy 
thoughts  then  to  the  objects  themselves,  and  consider 
how  short-lived  they  are  and  worthless,  and  that  they 
may  be  in  the  possession  of  a filthy  wretch  or  a Avhore  or 
a robber.  Then  turn  to  the  morals  of  those  who  live 
with  thee,  and  it  is  hardly  possible  to  endure  even  the 
most  agreeable  of  them,  to  say  nothing  of  a man  being 


182 


TEE  MEEITATIONS  OP 


hardly  able  to  endure  himself.  In  such  darkness  then, 
and  dirt,  and  in  so  constant  a flux,  both  of  substance 
and  of  time,  and  of  motion,  and  of  things  moved,  what 
there  is  worth  being  highly  prized,  or  even  an  object  of 
serious  2>ursuit,  I cannot  imagine.  B-ut  on  the  contrary'- 
it  is  a man’s  duty  to  comfort  himself,  and  to  w'ait  for 
the  natural  dissolution  and  not  to  be  vexed  at  the  delay, 
but  to  rest  in  these  principles  only : the  one,  that 
nothing  will  happen  to  me  which  is  not  conformable  to 
the  nature  of  the  universe ; and  the  other,  that  it  is  in 
my  power  never  to  act  contrary  to  my  god  and 
demon : for  there  is  no  man  who  will  compel  me  to 
this. 

11.  About  what  am  I now  employing  my  own  soul? 
On  every  occasion  I must  ask  myself  this  question, 
and  inquire,  what  have  I now  in  this  part  of  me  which 
they  call  the  ruling  principle  ? and  whose  soul  have  I 
now  ? that  of  a child,  or  of  a young  man,  or  of  a feeble 
woman,  or  of  a tyrant,  or  of  a domestic  animal,  or  of 
a wild  beast  ? 

12.  What  kind  of  things  those  are  which  appear 
good  to  the  many,  we  may  learn  even  from  this.  For 
if  any  man  should  conceive  certain  things  as  being 
really  good,  such  as  prudence,  temperance,  justice, 
fortitude,  he  would  not  after  having  first  conceived 
these  endure  to  listen  to  anythingf  which  should  not 
be  in  harmony  with  what  is  really  good.f  But  if  a 
man  has  first  conceived  as  good  the  things  which 
appear  to  the  many  to  be  good,  he  will  listen  and 
readily  receive  as  very  applicable  that  which  was  said 
by  the  comic  writer.  fThus  even  the  many  perceive 
the  differencef  For  were  it  not  so,  this  saying  would 
not  offend  and  would  not  be  rejected  [in  the  first 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  AMTOMINUS. 


1?3 


case],  while  we  receive  it  when  it  is  said  of  wealth, 
and  of  the  means  which  further  luxury  and  fame,  as 
said  fitly  and  wittily.  Go  on  then  and  ask  if  we 
should  value  and  think  those  things  to  be  good,  to 
which  after  their  first  conception  in  the  mind  the  words 
of  the  comic  writer  might  be  aptly  applied — that  he 
who  has  them,  through  pure  abundance  has  not  a place 
to  ease  himself  in. 

13.  I am  composed  of  the  formal  and  the  material ; 
and  neither  of  them  will  perish  into  non-existence,  as 
neither  of  them  came  into  existence  out  of  non- 
existence. Every  part  of  me  then  will  be  reduced  by 
change  into  some  part  of  the  universe,  and  that  again 
will  change  into  another  part  of  the  universe,  and  so 
on  forever.  And  by  consequence  of  such  a change  I 
too  exist,  and  those  who  begot  me,  and  so  on  forever 
in  the  other  direction.  For  nothing  hinders  us  from 
saying  so,  even  if  the  universe  is  administered  according 
to  definite  periods  [of  revolution]. 

Id.  Reason  and  the  reasoning  art  [philosophy]  are 
powers  which  are  sufficient  for  themselves  and  for 
their  own  works.  They  move  then  from  a first  prin- 
ciple which  is  their  own,  and  they  make  their  way  to 
the  end  which  is  proposed  to  them;  and  this  is  the 
reason  why  such  acts  are  named  Catorthoseis  or  right 
acts,  which  word  signifies  that  they  proceed  by  the 
right  road. 

15.  Rone  of  these  things  ought  to  be  called  a man’s, 
which  do  not  belong  to  a man,  as  man.  They  are  not 
required  of  a man,  nor  does  man’s  nature  promise 
them,  nor  are  they  the  means  of  man’s  nature  attain- 
ing its  end.  Reither  then  does  the  end  of  man  lie  in 
these  things,  nor  yet  that  which  aids  to  the  accom- 


184 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


plisbraent  of  this  end,  and  that  which  aids  toward  this 
end  is  that  which  is  good.  Besides,  if  any  of  these 
things  did  belong  to  man,  it  would  not  be  right  for  a 
man  to  despise  them  and  to  set  himself  against  them; 
nor  would  a man  be  worthy  of  praise  who  showed  that 
he  did  not  want  these  things,  nor  would  he  who  stinted 
himself  in  any  of  them  be  good,  if  indeed  these  things 
were  good.  But  now  the  more  of  these  things  a man 
deprives  himself  of,  or  of  other  things  like  them,  or 
even  when  he  is  deprived  of  any  of  them,  the  more 
patiently  he  endures  the  loss,  just  in  the  same  degree 
he  is  a better  man. 

16.  Such  as  are  thy  habitual  thoughts,  such  also  will 
be  the  character  of  thy  mind ; for  the  soul  is  dyed  by 
the  thoughts.  Dye  it  then  with  a continuous  series  of 
such  thoughts  as  these : for  instance,  that  where  a 
man  can  live,  there  he  can  also  live  well.  But  he  must 
live  in  a palace — well  then,  he  can  also  live  well  in  a 
palace.  And  again,  consider  that  for  whatever  pur- 
pose each  thing  has  been  constituted,  for  this  it  has 
been  constituted,  and  toward  this  it  is  carried;  and  its 
end  is  in  that  toward  which  it  is  canned ; and  where 
the  end  is,  there  also  is  the  advantage  and  the  good  of 
each  thing.  H”ow  the  good  for  the  reasonable  animal 
is  society ; for  that  we  are  made  for  society  has  been 
shown  above.*  Is  it  not  plain  that  the  inferior  exist 
for  the  sake  of  the  superior?  but  the  things  which 
have  life  are  superior  to  those  which  have  not  life,  and 
of  those  which  have  life  the  superior  are  those  which 
have  reason. 

17.  To  seek  what  is  impossible  is  madness : and  it  is 


*Comp.  ii.  1. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


185 


impossible  that  the  bad  should  not  do  something  of  this 
kind. 

18.  Nothing  happens  to*  any  man  which  he  is  not 
formed  by  nature  to  bear.  The  same  things  happen  to 
another,  and  either  because  he  does  not  see  that  the}'' 
have  happened  or  because  he  would  show  a great 
spirit  he  is  firm  and  remains  unharmed.  It  is  a shame 
then  that  ignorance  and  conceit  should  be  stronger 
than  wisdom. 

19.  Things  themselves  touch  not  the  soul,  not  in  the 
least  degree ; nor  have  they  admission  to  the  soul,  nor 
can  they  turn  or  move  the  soul : but  the  soul  turns 
and  moves  itself  alone,  and  whatever  judgments  it  may 
think  proper  to  make,  such  it  makes  for  itself  the 
things  which  present  themselves  to  it. 

20.  In  one  respect  man  is  the  nearest  thing  to  me, 
so  far  as  I must  do  good  to  men  and  endure  them.  But 
so  far  as  some  men  make  themselves  obstacles  to  my 
proper  acts,  man  becomes  to  me  one  of  the  things 
which  are  indifferent,  no  less  than  the  sun  or  wind  or 
a wild  beast.  Now  it  is  true  that  these  may  impede 
my. action,  but  they  are  no  impediments  to  my  affects 
and  disposition,  which  have  the  power  of  acting  con- 
ditionally and  changing : for  the  mind  converts  and 
changes  every  hindrance  to  its  activity  into  an  aid ; 
and  so  that  which  is  a hindrance  is  made  a furtherance 
to  an  act ; and  that  which  is  an  obstacle  on  the  road 
helps  us  on  this  road.* 

21.  Reverence  that  which  is  best  in  the  universe; 
and  this  is  that  which  makes  use  of  all  things  and 
directs  all  things.  And  in  like  manner  also  reverence 
that  which  is  best  in  thyself;  and  this  is  of  the  same 
kind  as  that.  For  in  thyself  also,  that  which  makes 


186 


TEE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


use  of  everything  else,  is  this,  and  thy  life  is  directed 
by  this. 

22.  That  which  does  no  harm  to  the  State,  does  no 
harm  to  the  citizen.  In  the  case  of  every  appearance 
of  harm  apply  this  rule : if  the  State  is  not  harmed  by 
this,  neither  am  I harmed.  But  if  the  State  is  harmed, 
thou  must  not  be  angr}'-  with  him  who  does  harm  to 
the  State.  Show  him  where  his  error  is. 

23.  Often  think  of  the  rapidity  with  which  things 
pass  by  and  disappear,  both  the  things  which  are  and 
the  things  which  are  produced.  For  substance  is  like 
a river  in  a continual  flow,  and  the  activities  of  things 
are  in  constant  change,  and  the  causes  work  in  infinite 
varieties ; and  there  is  hardly  anything  which  stands 
still.  And  consider  this  which  is  near  to  thee,  this 
boundless  abyss  of  the  past  and  of  the  future  in  which 
all  things  disappear.  How  then  is  he  not  a fool  who  is 
puffed  up  Avith  such  things  or  plagued  about  them  and 
makes  himself  miserable  ? for  they  vex  him  only  for  a 
time,  and  a short  time. 

2i.  Think  of  the  universal  substance,  of  which  thou 
hast  a very  small  portion ; and  of  universal  time,  of 
Avhich  a short  and  indivisible  interval  has  been  assigned 
to  thee ; and  of  that  which  is  fixed  by  destiny,  and 
how  small  a part  of  it  thou  art. 

25.  Does  another  do  me  Avrong  ? Let  him  look  to  it. 
He  has  his  OAvn  disposition,  his  own  activity.  I noAv 
have  Avhat  the  universal  nature  wills  me  to  have;  and 
I do  what  my  nature  now  Avills  me  to  do. 

26.  Let  the  part  of  thy  soul  which  leads  and  governs 
be  undisturbed  by  the  movements  in  the  flesh,  Avhether 
of  pleasure  or  of  pain ; and  let  it  not  unite  Avith  them, 
but  let  it  circumscribe  itself  and  limit  those  affects  to 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS.  ' 


187 


their  parts.  But  when  these  affects  rise  up  to  the 
mind  by  virtue  of  that  other  sympathy  that  naturally 
exists  in  a body  which  is  all  one,  then  thou  must  not 
strive  to  resist  the  sensation,  for  it  is  natural;  but  let 
not  the  ruling  part  of  itself  add  to  the  sensation  the 
opinion  that  it  is  either  good  or  bad. 

27.  Live  with  the  gods.  And  he  does  live  with  the 
gods  who  constantly  shows  to  them  that  his  own  soul 
is  satisfied  with  that  which  is  assigned  to  him,  and 
that  it  does  all  that  the  demon  wishes,  which  Zeus 
hath  given  to  every  man  for  his  guardian  and  guide,  a 
portion  of  himself.  And  this  is  eveiy  man’s  under- 
standing and  reason. 

28.  Art  thou  angry  with  him  whose  arm-pits  stink  ? 
Art  thou  angry  Avith  him  Avhose  mouth  smells  foul  ? 
What  good  will  this  anger  do  thee  ? He  has  such  a 
mouth,  he  has  such  arm-pits : it  is  necessary  that  such 
an  emanation  must  come  from  such  things — but  the 
man  has  reason,  it  Avill  be  said,  and  he  is  able,  if  he 
takes  pains,  to  discover  Avherein  he  offends — I wish 
thee  well  of  thy  discovery.  Well,  then,  and  thou  hast 
reason  : by  thy  rational  faculty  stir  up  his  rational 
faculty  ; show  him  his  error,  admonish  him.  For  if  he 
listens,  thou  Avilt  cure  him,  and  there  is  no  need  of 
anger,  [f  Neither  tragic  actor  nor  whore. f]* 

29.  As  thou  intendest  to  live  when  thou  art  e;one 

out,  . . . so  it  is  in  thy  poAver  to  live  here.  But  if 

men  do  not  permit  thee,  then  get  away  out  of  life,  yet 
so  as  if  thou  Avert  suffering  no  harm.  The  house  is 
smoky,  and  I quit  it.  Why  dost  thou  think  that  this 

*This  is  imperfect  or  corrupt,  or  both.  I have  translated  it 
literally  and  left  it  imperfect. 

t Epictetus,  i.  25,  18. 


188 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


is  any  trouble  ? But  so  long  as  nothing  of  the  kind 
drives  me  out,  I remain,  am  free,  and  no  man  shall 
hinder  me  from  doing  what  I choose ; and  I choose  to 
do  what  is  according  to  the  nature  of  the  rational  and 
social  animal. 

30.  The  intelligence  of  the  universe  is  social. 
Accordingly  it  has  made  the  inferior  things  for  the 
sake  of  the  superior,  and  it  has  fitted  the  superior  to  one 
another.  Thou  seest  how  it  has  subordinated,  co-ordi- 
nated and  assigned  to  everything  its  proper  portion, 
and  has  brought  together  into  concord  with  one 
another  the  things  which  are  the  best. 

31.  How  hast  thou  behaved  hitherto  to  the  gods, 
thy  parents,  brethren,  children,  teachers,  to  those  who 
looked  after  thy  infancy,  to  thy  friends,  kinsfolk,  to 
thy  slaves?  Consider  if  thou  hast  hitherto  behaved 
to  all  in  such  a way  that  this  may  be  said  of  thee : 


Never  lias  wronged  a man  in  deed  or  word. 

And  call  to  recollection  both  how  many  things  thou 
hast  passed  through,  and  how  many  things  thou  hast 
been  able  to  endure : and  that  the  history  of  thy  life 
is  now  complete,  and  thy  service  is  ended : and  how 
many  beautiful  things  thou  hast  seen : and  how  many 
pleasures  and  pains  thou  hast  despised ; and  how  many 
things  called  honorable  thou  hast  spurned  ; and  to  how 
many  ill  - minded  folks  thou  hast  shown  a kind 
disposition. 

32.  Why  do  unskilled  and  ignorant  souls  disturb 
him  who  has  skill  and  knowledge?  What  soul  then 
has  skill  and  knowledge?  That  which  knows  begin- 
ning and  end,  and  knows  the  reason  which  pervades 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


189 


all  substance  and  through  all  time  by  fixed  periods 
[revolutions]  administers  the  universe. 

33.  Soon,  very  soon,  thou  wilt  be  ashes,  or  a skeleton, 
and  either  a name  or  not  even  a name ; but  name  is 
sound  and  echo.  And  the  things  which  are  much 
valued  in  life  are  empty  and  rotten  and  trilling,  and 
[like]  little  dogs  biting  one  another,  and  little  children 
quarrelling,  laughing,  and  then  straightway  weeping. 
But  fidelity  and  modesty  and  justice  and  truth  are 
fied 

Up  to  Olympus  from  the  wide-spread  earth. 

Hesiod,  Works,  etc.,  v.  197. 

What  then  is  there  which  still  detains  thee  here?  If 
the  objects  of  sense  are  easily  changed  and  never 
stand  still,  and  the  organs  of  perception  are  dull  and 
easily  receive  false  impressions;  and  the  poor  soul 
itself  is  an  exhalation  from  blood.  But  to  have  good 
repute  amid  such  a world  as  this  is  an  empt}^  thing. 
Why  then  dost  thou  not  wait  in  tranquillity  for  thy 
end,  whether  it  is  extinction  or  removal  to  another 
state?  And  until  that  time  comes,  what  is  sufficient  ? 
Why,  what  else  than  to  venerate  the  gods  and  bless 
them,  and  to  do  good  to  men,  and  to  practice  tolerance 
and  self-restraint ; * but  as  to  everything  which  is 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  poor  flesh  and  breath,  to 
remember  that  this  is  neither  thine  nor  in  thy  power. 

34.  Thou  canst  pass  thy  life  in  an  equable  flow  of 
happiness,  if  thou  canst  go  by  the  right  way,  and  think 
and  act  in  the  right  w^ay.  These  two  things  are  com- 

*This  is  the  Stoic  precept  dvexov  ua'l  ditixov.  The  first  part 
teaches  us  to  be  content  with  men  and  things  as  they  are.  The 
second  part  teaches  us  the  virtue  of  self-restraint,  or  the  government 
pf  our  passions. 


190 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


mon  both  to  the  soul  of  God  and  to  the  soul  of  man, 
and  to  the  soul  of  every  rational  being,  not  to  be 
hindered  by  another ; and  to  hold  good  to  consist  in 
the  disposition  to  justice  and  the  practice  of  it,  and  in 
this  to  let  thy  desire  find  its  termination. 

35.  If  this  is  neither  my  own  badness,  nor  an  effect 
of  my  own  badness,  and  the  common  weal  is  not 
injured,  why  am  I troubled  about  it?  and  what  is  the 
harm  to  the  common  weal  ? 

36.  Do  not  be  carried  along  inconsiderately  by  the 
a])pearance  of  things,  but  give  help  [to  all]  according 
to  thy  ability  and  tlieir  fitness ; and  if  they  should 
have  sustained  loss  in  matters  which  are  indifferent,  do 
not  imagine  this  to  be  a damage.  For  it  is  a bad 
habit.  But  as  the  old  man,  when  he  went  away, 
asked  back  his  foster-child’s  top,  remembering  that  it 
was  a top,  so  do  thou  in  this  case  also. 

When  thou  art  calling  out  on  the  Eostra,  hast  thou 
forgotten,  man,  what  these  things  are  ? Yes ; but  they 
are  objects  of  great  concern  to  these  people — wilt  thou 
too  then  be  made  a fool  for  these  things  ? I was  once 
a fortunate  man,  but  I lost  it,  I know  not  how.  But 
fortunate  means  that  a man  has  assigned  to  himself  a 
good  fortune ; and  a good  fortune  is  good  disposition 
of  the  sold,  good  emotions,  good  actions.* 

* This  section  is  unintelligible.  Many  of  the  words  may  be 
corrupt,  and  the  general  purport  of  the  section  cannot  be  discovered. 
Perhaps  several  things  have  been  improperly  joined  in  one  section. 
I have  translated  it  nearly  literally.  Different  translators  give  the 
section  a different  turn,  and  the  critics  have  tried  to  mend  what  they 
cannot  understand. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


191 


YI. 

The  substance  of  the  universe  is  obedient  and  com- 
pliant ; and  the  reason  which  governs  it  has  in  itself 
no  cause  for  doing  evil,  for  it  has  no  malice,  nor  does 
it  do  evil  to  anything,  nor  is  anything  harmed  by  it. 
But  all  things  are  made  and  perfected  according  to 
this  reason. 

2.  Let  it  make  no  difference  to  thee  whether  thou 
art  cold  or  warm,  if  thou  art  doing  thy  duty ; and 
whether  thou  art  drowsy  or  satisfied  with  sleep ; and 
whether  ill-spoken  of  or  praised  ; and  whether  dying 
or  doing  something  else.  For  it  is  one  of  the  acts  of 
life,  this  act  by  which  we  die  ; it  is  sufficient  then  in 
this  act  also  to  do  well  what  we  have  in  hand 
(vi.  22,  28). 

3.  Look  within.  Let  neither  the  peculiar  quality  of 
anything  nor  its  value  escape  thee. 

4.  All  existing  things  soon  change,  and  they  will 
either  be  reduced  to  vapor,  if  indeed  all  substance  is 
one,  or  they  will  be  dispersed. 

5.  The  reason  which  governs  knows  what  its  own 
disposition  is,  and  Avhat  it  does,  and  on  what  material 
it  Avorks. 

6.  The  best  way  of  avenging  thyself  is  not  to  become 
like  [the  wrong  doer]. 

7.  Take  pleasure  in  one  thing  and  rest  in  it,  in 


192 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


passing  from  one  social  act  to  another  social  act,  think- 
ing of  God. 

8.  The  ruling  principle  is  that  which  rouses  and 
turns  itself,  and  while  it  makes  itself  such  as  it  is  and 
such  as  it  wills  to  he,  it  also  makes  everything  which 
happens  appear  to  itself  to  be  such  as  it  wills. 

9.  In  conformity  to  the  nature  of  the  universe  every 
single  thing  is  accomplished,  for  certainly  it  is  not  in 
conformit}'^  to  any  other  nature  that  each  thing  is 
accomplished,  either  a nature  which  externally  com- 
prehends this,  or  a nature  which  is  comprehended 
within  this  nature,  or  a nature  external  and  inde- 
pendent of  this  (xi.  1,  vi.  40,  viii.  50). 

10.  The  universe  is  either  a confusion,  and  a mutual 
involution  of  things,  and  a dispersion ; or  it  is  unity 
and  order  and  ])rovidence.  If  then  it  is  the  former, 
why  do  I desire  to  tarry  in  a fortuitous  combination 
of  things  and  such  a disorder  ? and  why  do  I care  about 
anything  else  than  how  I shall  at  last  become  earth? 
and  why  am  I disturbed,  for  the  dispersion  of  my  ele- 
ments will  happen  whatever  I do.  But  if  the  other 
supposition  is  true,  I venerate,  and  I am  firm,  and  I 
trust  in  him  who  governs  (iv.  27). 

11.  When  thou  hast  been  compelled  by  circum- 
stances to  be  distiu’bed  in  a manner,  quickly  return  to 
thyself  and  do  not  continue  out  of  tune  longer  than 
the  com]uilsion  lasts ; for  thou  wilt  have  more  mastery 
over  the  harmony  by  continually  recurring  to  it. 

12.  If  thou  hadst  a step-mother  and  a mother  at  the 
same  time,  thou  wouldst  be  dutiful  to  thy  step-mother, 
but  still  thou  wouldst  constantly  return  to  thy  mother. 
Let  the  court  and  philosophy  now  be  to  thee  step- 
mother and  mother;  return  to  philosophy  frequently 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


193 


and  repose  in  her,  through  whom  what  thou  meetest 
with  in  the  court  appears  to  thee  tolerable,  and  thou 
appearest  tolerable  in  the  court. 

13.  When  we  have  meat  before  us  and  such  eatables, 
we  receive  the  impression,  that  this  is  the  dead  body 
of  a fish,  and  this  is  the  dead  body  of  a bird  or  of  a pig  ; 
and  again,  that  this  Falernian  is  only  a little  grape 
juice,  and  this  purple  robe  some  sheep’s  wool  dyed 
with  the  blood  of  a shell-fish ; such  then  are  these  im- 
pressions, and  they  reach  the  things  themselves  and 
penetrate  them,  and  so  we  see  what  kind  of  things 
they  are.  Just  in  the  same  way  ought  we  to  act  all 
through  life,  and  where  there  are, things  v,^hich  appear 
most  worthy  of  our  approbation,  Ave  ought  to  lay  them 
bare  and  look  at  their  worthlessness  and  strip  them  of 
all  the  Avords  by  Avhicli  they  are  exalted.  For  outAA-ard 
show  is  a wonderful  perverter  of  the  reason,  and  Avhen 
thou  art  most  sure  that  thou  art  employed  about 
things  Avorth  thy  pains,  it  is  then  that  it  cheats  thee 
most.  Consider  then  AA^hat  Crates  says  of  Xenocrates 
himself. 

14.  Most  of  the  things  Avhich  the  multitude  admire 
are  referred  to  objects  of  the  most  general  kind,  those 
which  are  held  together  by  cohesion  or  natural  organi- 
zation, such  as  stones,  Avood,  fig-trees,  vines,  olives. 
But  those  which  are  admired  by  men,  Avho  are  a little 
more  reasonable,  are  referred  to  the  things  Avhich  are 
held  together  by  a living  principle,  as  fiocks,  herds. 
Those  Avhich  are  admired  by  men  Avho  are  still  more 
instructed  are  the  things  Avhich  are  held  together  by  a 
rational  soul,  not  howe\"er  a universal  soul,  but  rational 
so  far  as  it  is  a soul  skilled  in  some  art,  or  expert  in  some 
other  way,  or  simply  rational  so  far  as  it  possesses  a 


194 


TEE  MEEITATI0N8  OF 


number  of  slaves.  But  he  who  values  a rational  soul, 
a soul  universal  and  fitted  for  political  life,  regards 
nothing  else  except  this ; and  above  all  things  he  keeps 
his  soul  in  a condition  and  in  an  activity  conformable 
to  reason  and  social  life,  and  he  co-operates  to  this  end 
with  those  who  are  of  the  same  kind  as  himself. 

15.  Some  things  are  hurrying  into  existence,  and 
others  are  hurrying  out  of  it ; and  of  that  which  is 
coming  into  existence  part  is  already  extinguished. 
Motions  and  changes  are  continually  renewing  the 
world,  just  as  the  uninterrupted  course  of  time  is 
always  renewing  the  infinite  duration  of  ages.  In 
this  flowing  stream  then,  on  which  there  is  no  abiding, 
what  is  there  of  the  things  which  hurry  by  on  which 
a man  would  set  a high  price?  It  would  be  just  as  if 
a man  should  fall  in  love  with  one  of  the  sparrows 
which  fly  by,  but  it  has  already  passed  out  of  sight. 
Something  of  this  kind  is  the  very  life  of  every  man, 
like  the  exhalation  of  the  blood  and  the  respiration  of 
the  air.  For  such  as  it  is  to  have  once  drawn  in  the  air 
and  to  have  given  it  back,  which  we  do  every  moment, 
just  the  same  as  it  is  with  the  whole  respiratory  power, 
which  thou  didst  receive  at  thy  birth  yesterday  and 
the  day  before,  to  give  it  back  to  the  element  from 
which  thou  didst  first  draw  it. 

16.  Neither  is  transpiration,  as  in  plants,  a thing  to 
be  valued,  nor  respiration,  as  in  domesticated  animals 
and  wild  beasts,  nor  the  receiving  of  impressions  by 
the  appearances  of  things,  nor  being  moved  by  desires 
as  puppets  by  strings,  nor  assembling  in  herds,  nor 
being  nourished  by  food  ; for  this  is  just  like  the  act  of 
separating  and  parting  with  the  useless  part  of  our 
food.  What  then  is  worth  being  valued?  To  here- 


MARCUS  A UBELIUS  ANTONINUS.  195 

ceived  with  clapping  of  hands?  ~No.  hf either  must 
we  value  the  clapping  of  tongues  for  the  praise  which 
comes  from  the  many  is  a clapping  of  tongues.  Sup- 
pose then  that  thou  hast  given  up  this  worthless  thing 
called  fame,  what  remains  that  is  worth  valuing  ? 
This,  in  my  opinion,  to  move  thyself  and  to  restrain 
thyself  in  conformity  to  thy  proper  constitution,  to 
which  end  both  all  employments  and  arts  lead.  For 
every  art  aims  at  this,  that  the  thing  which  has  been 
made  should  be  adapted  to  the  work  for  which  it  has 
been  made ; and  both  the  vine-planter  who  looks  after 
the  vine,  and  the  horse-breaker,  and  he  who  trains  the 
dog,  seek  this  end.  But  the  education  and  the  teach- 
ing of  youth  aim  at  something.  In  this  then  is  the 
value  of  the  education  and  the  teaching.  And  if  this 
is  Avell,  thou  wilt  not  seek  anything  else.  Wilt  thou 
not  cease  to  value  many  other  things  too?  Then  thou 
wilt  be  neither  free,  nor  sufficient  for  thy  own  happi- 
ness, nor  without  passion.  For  of  necessity  thon  must 
be  envious,  jealous,  and  suspicious  of  those  who  can 
take  away  those  things,  and  plot  against  those  who 
have  that  which  is  valued  by  thee.  Of  necessity  a 
man  must  be  altogether  in  a state  of  perturbation  who 
Avants  any  of  these  things ; and  besides,  he  must  often 
find  fault  Avith  the  gods.  But  to  reverence  and  honor 
thy  OAvn  mind  Avill  make  thee  content  with  thyself, 
and  in  harmony  with  society,  and  in  agreement  AAnth 
the  gods,  that  is,  praising  all  that  they  give  and  have 
ordered. 

17.  Above,  beloAV,  all  around  are  the  movements  of 
the  elements.  But  the  motion  of  virtue  is  in  none  of 
these;  it  is  something  more  divine,  and  advancing  by 
a Avay  hardly  observed  it  goes  happily  on  its  road. 


196 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


18.  How  strangely  men  act.  They  will  not  praise 
those  who  are  living  at  the  same  time  and  living  with 
themselves ; but  to  be  themselves  praised  by  posterity, 
by  those  whom  they  have  never  seen  or  ever  will  see, 
this  they  set  mnch  value  on.  But  this  is  very  much 
the  same  as  if  thou  shouldst  be  grieved  because  those 
who  have  lived  before  thee  did  not  praise  thee. 

19.  If  a thing  is  difficult  to  be  accomplished  by  thyself, 
do  not  think  that  it  is  impossible  for  man ; but  if  any- 
thing is  possible  for  man  and  conformable  to  his  nature, 
think  that  this  can  be  attained  by  thyself  too. 

20.  In  the  gymnastic  exercises  suppose  that  a man 
has  torn  thee  with  his  nails,  and  by  dashing  against 
thy  head  has  inflicted  a wound.  Well,  we  neither 
show  any  signs  of  vexation,  nor  are  we  offended,  nor 
do  we  suspect  him  afterward  as  a treacherous  fellow  ; 
and  yet  we  are  on  onr  guard  against  him,  not  however 
as  an  enemy,  nor  yet  with  suspicion,  but  we  quietly 
get  out  of  his  way.  Something  like  this  let  thy  be- 
havior be  in  all  the  other  parts  of  life ; let  us  overlook 
many  things  in  those  who  are  like  antagonists  in  the 
gymnasium.  For  it  is  in  our  power,  as  I said,  to  get 
out  of  the  way,  and  to  have  no  suspicion  nor  hatred. 

21.  If  any  man  is  able  to  convince  me  and  show  me 
that  I do  not  think  or  act  right,  I will  gladly  change ; 
for  I seek  the  truth  by  which  no  man  was  every  in- 
jured. But  he  is  injured  who  abides  in  his  error  and 
ignorance. 

22.  I do  my  duty:  other  things  trouble  me  not; 
for  they  are  either  things  without  life,  or  things  with- 
out reason,  or  things  that  have  rambled  and  know  not 
the  way. 

23.  As  to  the  animals  which  have  no  reason,  and 


MARGVrS  A URRLtUS  ANTONiNUS. 


197 


generally  all  things  and  objects,  do  thou,  since  thou 
hast  reason  and  they  have  none,  make  use  of  them 
with  a generous  and  liberal  spirit.  But  toward 
human  beings,  as  they  have  reason,  behave  in  a social 
spirit.  And  on  all  occasions  call  on  the  gods,  and  do 
not  perplex  thyself  about  the  length  of  time  in  which 
thou  shalt  do  this ; for  even  three  hours  so  spent  are 
sufficient. 

24.  Alexander  the  Macedonian  and  his  groom  by 
death  were  brought  to  the  same  state ; for  either  they 
were  received  among  the  same  seminal  principles  of 
the  universe,  or  they  were  alike  dispersed  among  the 
atoms. 

25.  Consider  how  many  things  in  the  same  indivisi- 
ble time  take  place  in  each  of  us,  things  which  concern 
the  body  and  things  which  concern  the  soul ; and  so 
thou  wilt  not  wonder  if  many  more  things,  or  rather 
all  things  which  come  into  existence  in  that  which  is 
the  one  and  all,  which  we  call  Cosmos,  exist  in  it  at 
the  same  time. 

26.  If  any  man  should  propose  to  thee  the  question, 
how  the  name  Antoninus  is  written,  wouldst  thou  with 
a straining  of  the  voice  utter  each  letter?  What  then 
if  they  grow  angry,  wilt  thou  be  angry  too?  Wilt 
thou  not  go  on  with  composure  and  number  every 
letter?  Just- so  then  in  this  life  also  remember  that 
every  duty  is  made  up  of  certain  parts.  These  it  is 
th}^  duty  to  observe  and  without  being  disturbed  or 
showing  anger  toward  those  who  are  angry  with  thee 
to  go  on  thy  way  and  finish  that  which  is  set  before 
thee. 

27.  How  cruel  it  is  not  to  allow  men  to  strive  after 
the  things  which  appear  to  them  to  be  suitable  to  their 


198 


THE  MEHlTATlONS  OE 


nature  and  profitable ! And  yet  in  a manner  thou  dost 
not  allow  them  to  do  this,  when  thou  art  vexed  because 
they  do  wrong.  For  they  are  certainly  moved  toward 
things  because  they  suppose  them  to  be  suitable  to 
their  nature  and  profitable  to  them.  But  it  is  not 
so.  Teach  them  then,  and  show  them  without  being 
angry. 

28.  Death  is  a cessation  of  the  impressions  through 
the  senses,  and  of  the  pulling  of  the  strings  which 
move  the  appetites,  and  of  the  discursive  movements 
of  the  thoughts,  and  of  the  service  to  the  flesh  (ii.  12). 

29.  It  is  a shame  for  the  soul  to  be  first  to  give  way 
in  this  life,  when  thy  body  does  not  give  way. 

30.  Take  care  that  thou  art  not  made  into  a Caesar, 
that  thou  art  not  dyed  witli  this  dye ; for  such  things 
happen.  Keep  thyself  then  simple,  good,  pure,  serious, 
free  from  affectation,  a friend  of  justice,  a worshiper 
of  the  gods,  kind,  affectionate,  strenuous  in  all  proper 
acts.  Strive  to  continue  to  be  such  as  philosophy 
wished  to  make  thee.  Reverence  the  gods,  and  help 
men.  Short  is  life.  There  is  only  one  fruit  of  this 
terrene  life,  a pious  disposition  and  social  acts.  Do 
everything  as  a disciple  of  Antoninus.  Remember  his 
constancy  in  every  act  wdiich  was  conformable  to 
reason,  and  his  evenness  in  all  things,  and  his  piet}^, 
and  the  serenity  of  his  countenance,  and  his  sweetness, 
and  his  disregard  of  empty  fame,  and  his  efforts  to 
understand  things ; and  how  he  would  never  let  any- 
thing pass  without  having  first  most  carefully  exam- 
ined it  and  clearly  understood  it ; and  how  he  bore 
wdth  those  who  blamed  him  unjustly  without  blaming 
them  in  return ; how  he  did  nothing  in  a hurry ; and 
how  he  listened  not  to  calumnies,  and  how  exact  an 


MABGUS  A UBELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


199 


examiner  of  manners  and  actions  lie  was;  and  not 
given  to  reproach  people,  nor  timid,  nor  suspicious, 
nor  a sophist ; and  with  how  little  he  was  satisfied, 
such  as  lodging,  bed,  dress,  food,  servants  ; and  how 
laborious  and  patient ; and  how  he  was  able  on  account 
of  his  sparing  diet  to  hold  out  to  the  evening,  not 
even  requiring  to  relieve  himself  by  any  evacuations 
except  at  the  usual  hour ; and  his  firmness  and  uni- 
formity in  his  friendships;  and  how  he  tolerated 
freedom  of  speech  in  those  who  opposed  his  opinions ; 
and  the  pleasure  that  he  had  when  any  man  showed 
him  anything  better ; and  how  religious  he  was  with- 
out superstition.  Imitate  all  this  that  thou  mayest 
have  as  good  a conscience,  when  thy  last  hour  comes, 
as  he  had  (i.  16). 

31.  Eeturn  to  thy  sober  senses  and  call  thyself  back  ; 
and  when  thou  hast  roused  thyself  from  sleep  and  hast 
perceived  that  they  were  only  dreams  which  troubled 
thee,  now  in  thy  waking  hours  look  at  these  [the 
things  about  thee]  as  thou  didst  look  at  those  [the 
dreams]. 

32.  I consist  of  a little  body  and  a soul.  Now  to 
this  little  body  all  things  are  indifferent,  for  it  is  not 
able  to  perceive  differences.  But  to  the  understanding 
those  things  only  are  indifferent,  which  are  not  the 
Avorks  of  its  own  activity.  But  Avhatever  things  are 
the  works  of  its  own  activity,  all  these  are  in  its 
poAver.  And  of  these,  hoAvever,  only  those  Avhich  are 
done  with  reference  to  the  present ; for  as  to  the 
future  and  the  past  activities  of  the  mind,  even  these 
are  for  the  present  indifferent. 

33.  Neither  the  labor  Avhich  the  hand  does  nor  that 
of  the  foot  is  contrary  to  nature,  so  long  as  the  foot 


200 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


does  the  foot’s  work  and  the  hand  the  hand’s.  So 
then  neither  to  a man  as  a man  is  his  labor  contrary  to 
nature,  so  long  as  it  does  the  things  of  a man.  But  if 
the  labor  is  not  contrary  to  his  nature,  neither  is  it  an 
evil  to  him. 

34.  How  many  pleasures  have  been  enjoyed  by 
robbers,  patricides,  tyrants. 

35.  Dost  thou  not  see  how  the  handicraftsmen  ac- 
commodate themselves  up  to  a certain  point  to  those 
who  are  not  skilled  in  their  craft — nevertheless  they 
cling  to  the  reason  [the  principles]  of  their  art  and  do 
not  endure  to  depart  from  it  ? Is  it  not  strange  if  the 
architect  and  the  physician  shall  have  more  respect  to 
the  reason  [the  principles]  of  their  own  arts  than  man 
to  his  own  reason,  which  is  common  to  him  and  the 
gods  ? 

36.  Asia,  Europe  are  corners  of  the  universe ; all  the 
sea  a drop  in  the  universe ; Athos  a little  clod  of  the 
univ^erse ; all  the  present  time  is  a point  in  eternity. 
All  things  are  little,  changeable,  perishable.  All 
things  come  from  thence,  from  that  universal  ruling 
power  either  directly  proceeding  or  by  way  of  sequence. 
And  accordingly  the  lion’s  gaping  jaws,  and  that  which 
is  poisonous,  and  every  harmful  thing,  as  a thorn,  as 
mud,  are  after-products  of  the  grand  and  beautiful. 
Do  not  then  imagine  that  they  are  of  another  kind 
from  that  which  thou  dost  venerate,  but  form  a just 
opinion  of  the  source  of  all  (vii.  75). 

37.  He  who  has  seen  present  things  has  seen  all, 
both  everything  which  has  taken  place  from  all  eternity 
and  everything  which  will  be  for  time  without  end; 
for  all  things  are  of  one  kin  and  of  one  form. 

38.  Frequently  consider  the  connection  of  all  things 
in  the  universe  and  their  relation  to  one  another?  For 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


201 


in  a manner  all  things  are  implicated  with  one  another, 
and  all  in  this  way  are  friendly  to  one  another ; for 
one  thing  comes  in  order  after  another,  and  this  is  by 
virtue  of  thef  active  movement  and  mutual  conspira- 
tion and  the  unity  of  the  substance  (ix.  1). 

39.  Adapt  thyself  to  the  things  with  which  thy  lot 
has  been  cast;  and  the  men  among  whom  thou  hast 
received  thy  portion,  love  them,  but  do  it  truh' 
[sincerely]. 

40.  Every  instrument,  tool,  vessel,  if  it  does  that  for 
which  it  has  been  made,  is  well,  and  yet  he  who  made 
it  is  not  there.  But  in  the  things  which  are  held  to- 
gether by  nature  there  is  within  and  there  abides  in 
them  the  power  which  made  them ; wherefore  the 
more  is  it  fit  to  reverence  this  power,  and  to  think, 
that,  if  thou  dost  live  and  act  according  to  its  will, 
everything  in  thee  is  in  conformity  to  intelligence. 
And  thus  also  in  the  universe  the  things  which  belong 
to  it  are  in  conformity  to  intelligence. 

41.  Whatever  of  the  things  which  are  not  within 
th}'^  power  thou  shalt  suppose  to  be  good  for  thee  or 
evil,  it  must  of  necessity  be  that,  if  such  a bad  thing 
befall  thee  or  the  loss  of  such  a good  thing,  thou  wilt 
blame  the  gods,  and  hate  men  too,  those  Avho  are  the 
cause  of  the  misfortune  or  the  loss,  or  those  who  are 
suspected  of  being  likely  to  be  the  cause ; and  indeed 
we  do  much  injustice,  because  we  make  a difference 
between  these  things  [because  we  do  not  regard  these 
things  as  indifferentf].  But  if  we  judge  only  those 
things  which  are  in  our  power  to  be  good  or  bad,  there 
remains  no  reason  either  for  finding  fault  with  God  or 
standing  in  a hostile  attitude  to  man.* 


*Cicero,  De  Natura  Beorum,  iii.  33. 


202 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


42.  We  are  all  working  together  to  one  end,  some 
with  knowledge  and  design,  and  others  without  know- 
ing what  they  do ; as  men  also  when  they  are  asleep, 
of  whom  it  is  Heraclitus,  I think,  who  says  that  they 
are  laborers  and  co-operators  in  the  things  which  take 
place  in  the  universe.  But  men  co-operate  after  dif- 
ferent fashions : and  even  those  co  operate  abundantly, 
who  find  fault  with  what  happens  and  those  who  try 
to  oppose  it  and  to  hinder  it ; for  the  universe  had 
need  even  of  such  men  as  these.  It  remains  then  for 
thee  to  understand  among  what  kind  of  workmen  thou 
placest  thyself ; for  he  who  rules  all  things  will  cer- 
tainly make  a right  use  of  thee,  and  he  will  receive 
thee  among  some  part  of  the  co-operators  and  of  those 
whose  labors  conduce  to  one  end.  But  be  not  thou 
such  a part  as  the  mean  and  ridiculous  verse  in  the 
pla}%  which  Chiysippus  speaks  of.* 

43.  Does  the  sun  undertake  to  do  the  work  of  the 
rain,  or  Hisculapius  the  work  of  the  Fruit-bearer  [the 
earth]  ? And  how  is  it  with  respect  to  each  of  the 
stars,  are  they  not  different,  and  yet  they  work  to- 
gether to  the  same  end  ? 

44.  If  the  gods  have  determined  about  me  and  about 
the  things  which  must  happen  to  me,  they  have  de- 
termined well,  for  it  is  not  easy  even  to  imagine  a 
deity  without  forethought ; and  as  to  doing  me  harm, 
Avhy  should  they  have  any  desire  toward  that?  foi‘ 
what  advantage  \vould  result  to  them  from  this  or  to 
the  whole,  which  is  the  special  object  of  their  j^rovi- 
dence?  But  if  they  have  not  determined  about  me 
individuall3g  they  have  certainly  determined  about  the 
whole  at  least,  and  the  things  which  happen  by  wa_y 


*Plutarcli,  adversus  Stoicos,  c.  14. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


203 


of  sequence  in  this  general  arrangement  I ought  to 
accept  with  pleasure  and  to  be  content  Avith  them.  But 
if  they  determine  about  nothing — which  it  is  Avicked 
to  believe,  or  if  we  do  belicAm  it,  let  us  neither  sacrifice 
nor  pray  nor  swear  by  them,  nor  do  anything  else 
Avhich  Ave  do  as  if  the  gods  Avere  present  and  lived 
Avith  us — but  if,  hoAvever,  the  gods  determine  about 
none  of  the  things  which  concern  us,  I am  able  to 
determine  about  myself,  and  I can  inquire  about  that 
which  is  useful ; and  that  is  useful  to  every  man  Avhich 
is  conformable  to  his  OAvn  constitution  and  nature. 
But  my  nature  is  rational  and  social ; and  my  city  and 
country,  so  far  as  I am  Antoninus,  is  Rome,  but  so  far 
as  I am  a man,  it  is  the  Avorld.  The  things  then  Avhich 
are  useful  to  these  cities  are  alone  useful  to  me. 

45.  Whatever  happens  to  every  man,  this  is  for  the 
interest  of  the  universal ; this  might  be  sufficient.  But 
further  thou  Avilt  observe  this  also  as  a general  truth, 
if  thou  dost  observe,  that  AvhateAmr  is  profitable  to  any 
man  is  profitable  also  to  other  men.  But  let  the  Avord 
profitable  be  taken  here  in  the  common  sense  as  said 
of  things  of  the  middle  kind  [neither  good  nor  bad]. 

46.  As  it  hajApens  to  thee  in  the  amphitheater  and 
such  places,  that  the  continual  sight  of  the  same 
things  and  the  uniformity  make  the  spectacle  Aveari- 
some,  so  it  is  in  the  Avhole  of  life ; for  all  things  above, 
below,  are  the  same  and  from  the  same.  How  long 
then  ? 

47.  Think  continually  that  all  kinds  of  men  and  of 
all  kinds  of  pursuits  and  of  all  nations  are  dead,  so 
that  thy  thoughts  come  doAAm  even  to  Philistion  and 
Phoebus  and  Origanion.  Noav  turn  th}'’  thoughts  to 
the  other  kinds  [of  men].  To  that  place  then  Ave 


204 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


must  remove,  where  there  are  so  many  great  orators, 
and  so  many  noble  philosophers,  Heraclitus,  Pytha- 
goras, Socrates ; so  many  heroes  of  former  days,  and 
so  many  generals  after  them,  and  tyrants ; besides 
these,  Eudoxus,  Hipparchus,  Archimedes,  and  other 
men  of  acute  natural  talents,  great  minds,  lovers  of 
labor,  versatile,  confident,  mockers  even  of  the  perish- 
able and  ephemeral  life  of  man,  as  Menippus  and  such 
as  are  like  him.  As  to  all  these  consider  that  they 
have  long  been  in  the  dust.  What  harm  then  is  this 
to  them ; and  what  to  those  whose  names  are  alto- 
gether unknown?  One  thing  here  is  worth  a great 
deal,  to  pass  thy  life  in  truth  and  justice,  with  a benevo- 
lent disposition  even  to  liars  and  unjust  men. 

48.  When  thou  Avishest  to  delight  thyself,  think  of 
the  virtues  of  those  who  live  Avith  thee ; for  instance, 
the  activity  of  one,  and  the  modesty  of  another,  and 
the  liberality  of  a third,  and  some  other  good  quality 
of  a fourth.  For  nothing  delights  so  much  as  the 
examples  of  the  virtues,  Avhen  they  are  exhibited  in 
the  morals  of  those  Avho  live  with  us  and  present  them- 
selves in  abundance,  as  far  as  is  possible.  Wherefore 
Ave  must  keep  them  before  us. 

49.  Thou  art  not  dissatisfied,  I suppose,  because  thou 
Aveighest  only  so  many  litre  and  not  three  hundred.  Be 
not  dissatisfied  then  that  thou  must  live  only  so  many 
years  and  not  more ; for  as  thou  art  satisfied  Avith  the 
amount  of  substance  which  has  been  assigned  to  thee, 
so  be  content  Avith  the  time. 

50.  Let  us  try  to  persuade  them  [men].  But  act 
eA^en  against  their  Avill,  Avhen  the  principles  of  justice 
lead  that  way.  If,  hoAvever,  any  man  by  using  force 
stands  in  thy  Avay,  betake  thyself  to  contentment  and 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


205 


tranquillity,  and  at  the  same  time  employ  the 
hinderance  toward  the  exercise  of  some  other  virtue ; 
and  remember  that  thy  attempt  was  with  a reservation 
[conditionally],  that  thou  didst  not  desire  to  do  impos- 
sibilities. What  then  didst  thou  desire?  Some  such 
effort  as  this.  But  thou  attainest  thy  object,  if 
the  things  to  which  thou  wast  moved  are  [not] 
accomplished.f 

61.  He  who  loves  fame  considers  another  man’s 
activity  to  be  his  own  good ; and  he  who  loves 
pleasure,  his  own  sensations;  but  he  who  has  under- 
standing, considers  his  own  acts  to  be  his  own  good. 

52.  It  is  in  our  power  to  have  no  opinion  about  a 
thing,  and  not  to  be  disturbed  in  our  soul ; for  things 
themselves  have  no  natural  power  to  form  our 
judgments. 

53.  Accustom  thyself  to  attend  carefully  to  what  is 
said  by  another,  and  as  much  as  it  is  possible,  be  in  the 
speaker’s  mind. 

5d.  That  which  is  not  good  for  the  swarm,  neither  is 
it  good  for  the  bee. 

55.  If  sailors  abused  the  helmsman  or  the  sick  tlie 
doctor,  would  they  listen  to  anybody  else ; or  how 
could  the  helmsman  secure  the  safety  of  those  in 
the  ship  or  the  doctor  the  health  of  those  vdiom  he 
attends  ? 

56.  How  many  together  with  whom  I came  into  the 
world  are  already  gone  out  of  it. 

57.  To  the  jaundiced  honey  tastes  bitter,  and  to 
those  bitten  by  mad  dogs  water  causes  fear ; and  to 
little  children  the  ball  is  a fine  thing.  Why  then  am 
I angry?  Dost  thou  think  that  a false  opinion  has 
less  power  than  the  bile  in  the  jaundiced  or  the  poison 
in  him  who  is  bitten  by  a mad  dog. 


206 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


58.  No  man  will  hinder  thee  from  living  according 
to  the  reason  of  thy  own  nature : nothing  will  happen 
to  thee  contrary  to  the  reason  of  the  universal 
nature. 

59.  What  kind  of  people  are  those  whom  men  Avish 
to  please,  and  for  Avhat  objects,  and  by  Avhat  kind  of 
acts  ? How  soon  Avill  time  cover  all  things,  and  how 
many  it  has  covered  already. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


207 


VII. 

"What  is  badness?  It  is  that  which  thou  hast  often 
seen.  And  on  the  occasion  of  everything  which 
happens  keep  this  in  mind,  that  it  is  that  which  thou 
hast  often  seen.  Everywhere  up  and  down  thou  wilt 
find  the  same  things,  with  which  the  old  histories  are 
filled,  those  of  the  middle  ages  and  those  of  our  own 
day;  with  which  cities  and  houses  are  filled  now. 
There  is  nothing  new ; all  things  are  both  familiar  and 
short  lived. 

2.  How  can  our  principles  become  dead,  unless  the 
impressions  [thoughts]  which  correspond  to  them  are 
extinguished?  But  it  is  in  thy  power  continuously  to 
fan  these  thoughts  into  a flame.  I can  have  that 
opinion  about  anything,  which  I ought  to  have.  If  I 
can,  why  am  I disturbed?  The  things  which  are  ex- 
ternal to  my  mind  have  no  relation  at  all  to  my  mind. 
Let  this  be  the  state  of  thy  affects,  and  thou  standest 
erect.  To  recover  thy  life  is  in  thy  power.  Look  at 
things  again  as  thou  didst  use  to  look  at  them ; for  in 
this  consists  the  recovery  of  thy  life. 

' 3.  The  idle  business  of  show,  plays  on  the  stage,  flocks 
of  sheep,  herds,  exercises  with  spears,  a bone  cast  to 
little  dogs,  a bit  of  bread  into  fish-ponds,  laborings  of 
ants  and  burden-carrying,  runnings  about  of  fright- 
ened little  mice,  puppets  pulled  by  strings — [all  alike]. 
It  is  thy  duty  then  in  the  midst  of  such  things  to  show 


‘>08 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


good  humor  and  not  a proud  air ; to  understand,  how- 
ever, that  every  man  is  worth  just  so  much  as  the 
things  are  worth  about  which  he  busies  himself. 

d.  In  discourse  thou  must  attend  to  what  is  said,  and 
ill  every  movement  thou  must  observe  what  is  doing. 
And  in  tlie  one  thou  shouldst  see  immediately  to  what 
end  it  refers,  but  in  the  other  watch  carefully  what  is 
the  thing  signified. 

5.  Is  my  understanding  sufficient  for  this  or  not?  If 
it  is  sufficient  I use  it  for  the  work  as  an  instrument 
given  by  the  universal  nature.  But  if  it  is  not  suffi- 
cient, then  either  I retire  from  the  work  and  give  way 
to  him  who  is  able  to  do  it  better,  unless  there  be  some 
reason  why  I ought  not  to  do  so ; or  I do  it  as  well  as  I 
can,  taking  to  help  me  the  man  who  with  the  aid  of 
my  ruling  principle  can  do  what  is  now  fit  and  useful 
for  the  general  good.  For  whatsoever  either  by  myself 
or  with  another  I can  do,  ought  to  be  directed  to  this 
only,  to  that  ivhich  is  useful  and  well-suited  to  society. 

6.  How  many  after  being  celebrated  by  fame  have 
been  given  up  to  oblivion;  and  how  many  who  have 
celebrated  the  fame  of  others  have  long  been  dead. 

7.  Be  not  ashamed  to  be  helped ; for  it  is  thy  busi- 
ness to  do  thy  duty  like  a soldier  in  the  assault  on  a 
town.  How  then,  if  being  lame  thou  canst  not  mount 
up  on  the  battlements  alone,  but  with  the  help  of 
another  it  is  possible? 

8.  Let  not  future  things  disturb  thee,  for  thou  wilt 
come  to  them,  if  it  shall  be  necessary,  having  with  thee 
the  same  reason  which  now  thou  usest  for  present 
things. 

9.  All  things  are  implicated  with  one  another,  and 
the  bond  is  holy ; and  there  is  hardly  anything  uncon- 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


209 


nected  with  any  other  thing.  For  things  have  been 
co-ordinated,  and  they  combine  to  form  the  same  uni- 
verse [order].  For  there  is  one  universe  made  up  of 
all  things,  and  one  god  who  pervades  all  things,  and 
one  substance,  and  one  law,  [one]  common  reason  in 
all  intelligent  animals,  and  one  truth ; if  indeed  there 
is  also  one  perfection  for  all  animals  which  are  of  the 
same  stock  and  participate  in  the  same  reason. 

10.  Everything  material  soon  disappears  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  whole ; and  everything  formal  [causal]  is 
very  soon  taken  back  into  the  universal  reason ; and 
the  memory  of  everything  is  very  soon  overwhelmed 
in  time. 

11.  To  the  rational  animal  the  same  act  is  according 
to  nature  and  according  to  reason. 

12.  Be  thou  erect,  or  be  made  erect  (iii.  5). 

13.  Just  as  it  is  with  the  members  in  those  bodies 
which  are  united  in  one,  so  it  is  with  rational  beings 
which  exist  separate,  for  they  have  been  constituted 
for  one  co-operation.  And  the  perception  of  this  will 
be  more  apparent  to  thee,  if  thou  often  sayest  to  thy- 
self that  I am  a member  [//fAos]  of  the  system  of 
rational  beings.  But  if  [using  the  letter  r]  thou  sayest 
that  thou  art  a part  [Af'po?],  thou  dost  not  yet  love  men 
from  thy  heart ; beneficence  does  not  yet  delight  thee 
for  its  own  sake;  thou  still  doest  it  barely  as  a thing 
of  propriety,  and  not  yet  as  doing  good  to  thyself. 

14.  Let  there  fall  externally  what  will  on  the  parts 
which  can  feel  the  effects  of  this  fall.  For  those  parts 
which  have  felt  will  complain,  if  they  choose.  But  I, 
unless  I think  that  what  has  happened  is  an  evil,  am 
not  injured.  And  it  is  in  my  power  not  to  think  so. 

15.  Whatever  any  one  does  or  says,  I must  be  good. 


210 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


just  as  if  the  gold,  or  the  emerald,  or  the  purple  were 
always  saying  this.  Whatever  any  one  does  or  says,  I 
must  be  emerald  and  keep  my  color. 

16.  The  ruling  faculty  does  not  disturb  itself;  I 
mean,  does  not  frighten  itself  or  cause  itself  pain.f 
But  if  any  one  else  can  frighten  or  pain  it,  let  him  do 
so.  For  the  faculty  itself  will  not  by  its  own  opinion 
turn  itself  into  such  ways.  Let  the  body  itself  take 
care,  if  it  can,  that  it  suffer  nothing,  and  let  it  speak, 
if  it  suffers.  But  the  soul  itself,  that  wdnch  is  subject 
to  fear,  to  pain,  Avhich  has  completely  the  power  of 
forming  an  opinion  about  these  things,  wdll  suffer 
nothing,  for  it  will  never  deviate  into  such  a judgment. 
The  leading  principle  in  itself  wants  nothing,  unless  it 
makes  a want  for  itself ; and  therefore  it  is  both  free 
from  perturbation  and  unimpeded,  if  it  does  not  dis' 
turb  and  imjiede  itself. 

17.  Eudminonia  [happiness]  is  a good  demon,  or  a 
good  thing.  What  then  art  thou  doing  here,  O 
imagination  ? go  away,  I entreat  thee  by  the  gods,  as 
thou  didst  come,  for  I want  thee  not.  But  thou  aid 
come  according  to  thy  old  fashion.  I am  not  angry 
with  thee  ; only  go  away. 

18.  Is  any  man  afraid  of  change?  Why  what  can 
take  place  without  change  ? What  then  is  more  pleas- 
ing'or  more  suitable  to  the  universal  nature?  And 
canst  thou  take  a bath  unless  the  wood  undergoes  a 
change  ? And  canst  thou  be  nourished,  unless  the  food 
undergoes  a change  ? And  can  anything  else  that  is 
useful  be  accomplished  without  change?  Dost  thou 
not  see  then  that  for  thj^self  also  to  change  is  just  the 
same,  and  equally  necessary  for  the  universal  nature? 

19.  Through  the  universal  substance  as  through  a 


MABC  JIS  A JlRELim  ANTONINUS.  211 

furious  torrent  all  bodies  are  carried,  being  by  their 
nature  united  with  and  co-operating  with  the  whole, 
as  the  parts  of  our  body  with  one  another.  How  many 
a Chr}"sippus,  how  many  a Socrates,  how  many  an 
Epictetus  has  time  already  swallowed  up?  And  let 
the  same  thought  occur  to  thee  with  reference  to  every 
man  and  thing  (v.  23 ; vi.  15). 

20.  One  thing  only  troubles  me,  lest  I should  do 
something  which  the  constitution  of  man  does  not 
allow,  or  in  the  way  which  it  does  not  allow,  or  what 
it  does  not  allow  now. 

21.  Hear  is  thy  forgetfulness  of  all  things ; and  near 
the  forgetfulness  of  thee  by  all. 

22.  It  is  peculiar  to  man  to  love  even  those  who  do 
wrong.  And  this  happens,  if  when  they  do  wrong  it 
occurs  to  thee  that  they  are  kinsmen,  and  that  they  do 
wrong  through  ignorance  and  unintentionally,  and 
that  soon  both  of  you  will  die ; and  above  all,  that  the 
wrong-doer  has  done  thee  no  harm,  for  he  has  not 
made  thy  ruling  faculty  worse  than  it  was  before. 

23.  The  universal  nature  out  of  the  universal  sub- 
stance, as  if  it  were  wax,  now  molds  a horse,  and 
when  it  has  broken  this  up,  it  uses  the  material  for  a 
tree,  then  for  a man,  then  for  something  else ; and 
each  of  these  things  subsists  for  a very  short  time. 
But  it  is  no  hardship  for  the  vessel  to  be  broken  up, 
just  as  there  was  none  in  its  being  fastened  together 
(viii.  50). 

24.  A scowling  look  is  altogether  unnatural ; when 
it  is  often  assumed,*  the  result  is  that  all  comeliness 
dies  away,  and  at  last  is  so  completely  extinguished 
that  it  cannot  be  again  lighted  up  at  all.  Try  to  con- 


* This  is  corrupt. 


213 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


elude  from  this  very  fact  that  it  is  contrary  to  reason. 
For  if  even  the  perception  of  doing  wrong  shall 
depart,  what  reason  is  there  for  living  any  longer  ? 

25.  Nature  which  governs  the  whole  will  soon 
change  all  things  which  thou  seest,  and  out  of  their 
substance  will  make  other  things,  and  again  other 
things  from  the  substance  of  them,  in  order  that  the 
world  may  be  ever  new  (xii.  23). 

26.  When  a man  has  done  thee  an}’-  wrong,  imme- 
diately consider  with  what  opinion  about  good  or  evil 
he  has  done  wrong.  For  when  thou  hast  seen  this, 
thou  wilt  pity  him,  and  wilt  neither  wonder  nor  be 
angry.  For  either  thou  thyself  thinkest  the  same 
thing  to  be  good  that  he  does,  or  another  thing  of  the 
same  kind.  It  is  thy  duty  then  to  pardon  him. 
But  if  thou  dost  not  think  such  things  to  be  good  or 
evil,  thou  wilt  more  readily  be  well  disposed  to  him 
who  is  in  error. 

27.  Think  not  so  much  of  what  thou  hast  not  as  of 
what  thou  hast : but  of  the  things  which  thou  hast 
select  the  best,  and  then  reflect  how  eagerly  they 
would  have  been  sought,  if  thou  hadst  them  not.  At 
the  same  time,  however,  take  care  that  thou  dost  not 
through  being  so  pleased  Avith  them  accustom  thyself 
to  overvalue  them,  so  as  to  be  disturbed  if  ever  thou 
shouldst  not  have  them. 

28.  Retire  into  thyself.  The  rational  principle  Avhich 
rules  has  this  nature,  that  it  is  content  with  itself  when 
it  does  Avhat  is  just,  and  so  secures  tranquillity. 

29.  Wipe  out  the  imagination.  Stop  the  pulling  of 
the  strings.  Confine  thyself  to  the  present.  Under- 
stand well  what  happens  either  to  thee  or  to  another. 
Divide  and  distribute  every  object  into  the  casual 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTOMINUS. 


213 


[formal]  and  the  material.  Think  of  thy  last  hour. 
Let  the  wrong  which  is  done  by  a man  stay  there 
where  the  wrong  was  done  (viii.  29). 

30.  Direct  thy  attention  to  what  is  said.  Let  thy 
understanding  enter  into  the  things  that  are  doing  and 
the  things  which  do  them  (vii.  4). 

31.  Adorn  th3'Self  with  simplicity  and  modesty  and 
with  indifference  toward  the  things  which  lie  between 
virtue  and  vice.  Love  mankind.  Follow  God.  The 
poet  says  that  Law  rules  all.f  And  it  is  enough  to 
remember  that  law  rules  all.* 

32.  About  death  : whether  it  is  a dispersion,  or  a 
resolution  into  atoms,  or  annihilation,  it  is  either 
extinction  or  change. 

33.  About  pain  : the  pain  which  is  intolerable  carries 
us  off ; but  that  which  lasts  a long  time  is  tolerable ; 
and  the  mind  maintains  its  own  tranquillity  b}''  retiring 
into  itself,f  and  the  ruling  faculty  is  not  made  worse. 
But  the  parts  which  are  harmed  by  pain,  let  them,  if 
they  can,  give  their  opinion  about  it. 

34.  About  fame : look  at  the  minds  [of  those  who 
seek  fame],  observe  what  they  are,  and  what  kind  of 
things  they  avoid,  and  what  kind  of  things  they 
pursue.  And  consider  that  as  the  heaps  of  sand  piled 
on  one  another  hide  the  former  sands,  so  in  life  the 
events  which  go  before  are  soon  covered  by  those 
which  come  after. 

35.  From  Plato : ];  the  man  who  has  an  elevated 
mind  and  takes  a view  of  all  time  and  of  all  substance, 
dost  thou  suppose  it  possible  for  him  to  think  that 
human  life  is  anything  great?  It  is  not  possible,  he 

* The  end  of  this  section  is  unintelligible. 

I Plato,  Pol.  vi.  486. 


214 


TEE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


said.  Such  a man  then  will  think  that  death  also  is  no 
evil.  Certainly  not. 

36.  From  Antisthenes : It  is  royal  to  do  good  and 
to  be  abused. 

37.  It  is  a base  thing  for  the  countenance  to  be 
obedient  and  to  regulate  and  compose  itself  as  the 
mind  commands,  and  for  the  mind  not  to  be  regulated 
and  composed  by  itself. 

38.  It  is  not  right  to  vex  ourselves  at  things, 

For  they  care  nought  about  it.* * * § 

39.  To  the  immortal  gods  and  us  give  joy. 

40.  Life  must  be  reaped  like  the  ripe  ears  of  corn : 
One  man  is  born  ; another  dies.j; 

41.  If  gods  care  not  for  me  and  for  my  children, 
There  is  a reason  for  it. 

42.  For  the  good  is  with  me,  and  the  just.§ 

43.  No  joining  others  in  their  wailing,  no  violent 
emotion. 

44.  From  Plato  :||  But  I would  make  this  man  a 
sufficient  answer,  which  is  this:  Thou  sayest  not  w^ell, 
if  thou  thinkest  that  a man  who  is  good  for  anything 
at  all  ought  to  compute  the  hazard  of  life  or  death, 
and  should  not  rather  look  to  this  only  in  all  that  he 
does,  whether  he  is  doing  what  is  just  or  unjust,  and 
the  works  of  a good  or  a bad  man. 

45.  ||For  thus  it  is,  men  of  Athens,  in  truth;  wher- 

* From  tlie  Belleroplion  of  Euripides. 

I From  tlie  Hypsipyle  of  Euripides.  Cicero  (TuscuL  iii.  25), 
has  translated  six  lines  from  Euripides,  and  among  them  are  these 
two  lines  : 

Reddenda  terras  est  terra  : turn  vita  omnibus 
Metenda  ut  fruges  : Sic  jubet  necessitas. 

§ See  Aristophanes,  Acharnenses,  v.  661. 

I From  the  Apologia,  c.  16. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


215 


ever  a man  has  placed  himself  thinking  it  the  best 
place  for  him,  or  has  been  placed  by  a commander, 
there  in  my  opinion  he  ought  to  stay  and  to  abide  the 
hazard,  taking  nothing  into  the  reckoning,  either  death 
or  anything  else,  before  the  baseness  [of  deserting  his 
post]. 

46.  But,  my  good  friend,  reflect  whether  that  which 
is  noble  and  good  is  not  something  different  from 
saving  and  being  saved  ; for  as  to  a man  living  such  or 
such  a time,  at  least  one  who  is  really  a man,  consider 
if  this  is  not  a thing  to  be  dismissed  from  the  thoughts : 
and  there  must  be  no  love  of  life:  but  as  to  these 
matters  a man  must  intrust  them  to  the  deity  and 
believe  what  the  women  say,  that  no  man  can  escape 
his  destiny,  the  next  inquiry  being  how  he  may  best 
live  the  time  that  he  has  to  live.* 

47.  Look  round  at  the  courses  of  the  stars,  as  if  thou 
wert  going  along  with  them ; and  constantly  consider 
the  changes  of  the  elements  into  one  another  ; for  such 
thoughts  purge  away  the  filth  of  the  terrene  life. 

48.  This  is  a flne  saying  of  Plato  That  he  who  is 
discoursing  about  men  should  look  also  at  earthly 
things  as  if  he  viewed  them  from  some  higher  place ; 
should  look  at  them  in  their  assembles,  armies,  agri- 
cultural labors,  marriages,  treaties,  births,  deaths,  noise 
of  the  courts  of  justice,  desert  places,  various  nations 
of  barbarians,  feasts,  lamentations,  markets,  a mixture 
of  all  things  and  an  orderly  combination  of  contraries. 

49.  Consider  the  past ; such  great  changes  of  polit- 
ical supremacies.  Thou  mayest  foresee  also  the  things 
which  will  be.  For  they  will  certainly  be  of  like  form. 


* Plato,  Gorgias,  c.  68  (512). 

t It  is  said  that  this  is  not  in  the  extant  writings  of  Plato. 


216 


TEE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


and  it  is  not  possible  that  they  should  deviate  from  the 
order  of  the  things  which  take  place  now  : accordingly 
to  have  contemplated  human  life  for  forty  years  is  the 
same  as  to  have  contemplated  it  for  ten  thousand 
years.  For  what  more  wilt  thou  see? 

50.  That  which  has  grown  from  the  earth  to  the 

earth, 

But  that  which  has  sprung  from  heavenly  seed, 
Back  to  the  heavenly  realms  returns.* 

This  is  either  a dissolution  of  the  mutual  involution 
of  the  atoms,  or  a similar  dispersion  of  the  unsentient 
elements. 

51.  With  food  and  drinks  and  cunning  magic  arts 
Turning  the  channel’s  course  to  ’scape  from 

death.:]; 

The  breeze  which  heaven  has  sent 
We  must  endure,  and  toil  without  complaining. 

52.  Another  may  be  more  expert  in  casting  his 
opponent ; but  he  is  not  more  social,  nor  more  modest, 
nor  better  disciplined  to  meet  all  that  happens,  nor 
more  considerate  with  respect  to  the  faults  of  his 
neighbors. 

53.  Where  any  work  can  be  done  conformably  to 
the  reason  which  is  common  to  gods  and  men,  there  we 
have  nothing  to  fear ; for  where  we  are  able  to  get 
profit  by  means  of  the  activity  which  is  successful  and 
proceeds  according  to  our  constitution,  there  no  harm 
is  to  be  suspected. 

54.  Everywhere  and  at  all  times  it  is  in  thy  power 
piously  to  acquiesce  in  thy  present  condition,  and  to 
behave  justly  to  those  who  are  about  thee,  and  to 

* From  tlie  Chrysippus  of  Euripides. 

t The  first  two  lines  are  from  the  Supplices  of  Euripides,  v.  1110. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS.  211 

exert  thy  skill  upon  thy  present  thoughts,  that  nothing 
shall  steal  into  them  without  being  well  examined. 

55.  Do  not  look  around  thee  to  discover  other  men’s 
ruling  principles,  but  look  straight  to  this,  to  what 
nature  leads  thee,  both  the  universal  nature  through 
the  things  which  happen  to  thee,  and  thy  own  nature 
through  the  acts  which  must  be  done  by  thee.  But 
every  being  ought  to  do  that  which  is  according  to  its 
constitution ; and  all  other  things  have  been  consti- 
tuted for  the  sake  of  rational  beings,  just  as  among 
irrational  things  the  inferior  for  the  sake  of  the 
superior,  but  the  rational  for  the  sake  of  one  another. 

The  prime  principle  then  in  man’s  constitution  is  the 
social.  And  the  second  is  not  to  yield  to  the  per- 
suasions of  the  body,  for  it  is  the  peculiar  office  of  the 
rational  and  intelligent  motion  to  circumscribe  itself, 
and  never  to  be  overpowered  either  by  the  motion  of 
the  senses  or  of  the  appetites,  for  both  are  animal ; but 
the  intelligent  motion  claims  superiority  and  does  not 
permit  itself  to  be  overpowered  by  the  others.  And 
with  good  reason,  for  it  is  formed  by  nature  to  use  all 
of  them.  The  third  thing  in  the  I’ational  constitution 
is  freedom  from  error  and  from  deception.  Let  then 
the  ruling  principle  holding  fast  to  these  things  go 
straight  on,  and  it  has  what  is  its  own. 

56.  Consider  thyself  to  be  dead,  and  to  have  com- 
pleted thy  life  up  to  the  present  time ; and  live  accord- 
ing to  nature  the  remainder  which  is  allowed  thee. 

57.  Love  that  only  which  happens  to  thee  and  is 
spun  with  the  thread  of  thy  destiny.  For  what  is 
more  suitable  ? 

58.  In  everything  which  happens  keep  before  thy 
eyes  those  to  whom  the  same  things  happened,  and 


218 


TEE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


how  they  were  vexed,  and  treated  them  as  strange 
things,  and  found  fault  with  them  ; and  now  where 
are  they?  Nowhere.  Why  then  dost  thou  too  choose 
to  act  in  the  same  way  ? and  why  dost  thou  not  leave 
these  agitations  which  are  foreign  to  nature,  to  those 
who  cause  them  and  those  who  are  moved  by  them  ? 
And  why  art  thou  not  altogether  intent  upon  the  right 
Avay  of  making  use  of  the  things  which  happen  to 
thee?  for  then  thou  wilt  use  them  well,  and  they  Avill 
be  a material  for  thee  [to  work  on].  Only  attend  to 
thyself,  and  resolve  to  be  a good  man  in  every  act 
which  thou  doest ; and  remember * 

59.  Look  within.  Within  is  the  fountain  of  good, 
and  it  will  ever  bubble  up,  if  thou  wilt  ever  dig. 

60.  The  body  ought  to  be  compact,  and  to  show  no 
irregularity  either  in  motion  or  attitude.  For  what 
the  mind  shows  in  the  face  by  maintaining  in  it  the 
expression  of  intelligence  and  propriety,  that  ought  to 
be  required  also  in  the  whole  body.  But  all  these 
things  should  be  observed  without  affectation. 

61.  The  art  of  life  is  more  like  the  wrestler’s  art 
than  the  dancer’s,  in  respect  of  this,  that  it  should 
stand  ready  and  firm  to  meet  onsets  which  are  sudden 
and  unexpected. 

62.  Constantly  observe  who  those  are  whose  appro- 
bation thou  wishest  to  have,  and  what  ruling  prin- 
ciples they  possess.  For  then  thou  wilt  neither  blame 
those  who  offend  involuntarily,  nor  wilt  thou  want 
their  approbation,  if  thou  lookest  to  the  sources  of 
their  o])inions  and  appetites. 

* This  section  is  obscure,  and  the  conclusion  is  so  corrupt  that  it 
3s  impossible  to  give  any  probable  meaning  to  it.  It  is  better  to 
leave  it  as  it  is  than  to  patch  it  up,  as  some  critics  and  translators 
have  done. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


219 


63.  Every  soul,  the  philosopher  says,  is  involuntarily 
deprived  of  truth  ; consequently  in  the  same  u^ay  it  is 
deprived  of  justice  and  temperance  and  benevolence 
and  everything  of  the  kind.  It  is  most  necessary  to 
bear  this  constantly  in  mind,  for  thus  thou  wilt  be 
more  gentle  toward  all. 

14.  In  every  pain  let  this  thought  be  present,  that 
there  is  no  dishonor  in  it,  nor  does  it  make  the  govern- 
ing intelligence  worse,  for  it  does  not  damage  the 
intelligence  either  so  far  as  the  intelligence  is  rational 
or  so  far  as  it  is  social.  Indeed  in  the  case  of  most 
pains  let  this  remark  of  Epicurus  aid  thee,  that  pain  is 
neither  intolerable  nor  everlasting,  if  thou  bearest  in 
mind  that  it  has  its  limits,  and  if  thou  addest  nothing 
to  it  in  imagination : and  remember  this,  too,  that  we 
do  not  perceive  that  many  things  which  are  disagree- 
able to  us  are  the  same  as  pain,  such  as  excessive  drowsi- 
ness, and  the  being  scorched  by  heat,  and  the  having  no 
appetite.  When  then  thou  art  discontented  about  any 
of  these  things,  say  to  thyself,  that  thou  art  yielding 
to  pain. 

65.  Take  care  not  to  feel  toward  the  inhuman,  as 
they  feel  toward  men. 

66.  How  do  we  know  if  Telauges  was  not  superior 
in  character  to  Socrates  ? for  it  is  not  enough  that 
Socrates  died  a more  noble  death,  and  disputed  more 
skillfully  with  the  sophists,  and  passed  the  night  in 
the  cold  with  more  endurance,  and  that  when  he  was 
bid  to  arrest  Leon*  of  Salamis,  he  considered  it  more 
noble  to  refuse,  and  that  he  walked  in  a swaggering 

* Leon  of  Salamis.  See  Plato,  Epist,  7 ; Apolog.  c.  30 ; Epic- 
tetus, iv.  1,  160;  iv.  7,  30. 


220 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


way  in  the  streets’’'— though  as  to  this  fact  one  may 
have  gTeat  doubts  if  it  was  true.  But  we  ought  to 
inquire,  what  kind  of  a soul  it  was  that  Socrates  pos- 
sessed, and  if  he  was  able  to  be  content  with  being 
just  toward  men  and  pious  toward  the  gods,  neither 
idly  vexed  on  account  of  men’s  villainy,  nor  yet  making 
himself  a slave  to  any  man’s  ignorance,  nor  receiving 
as  strange  anything  that  fell  to  his  share  out  of  the 
universal,  nor  enduring  it  as  intolerable,  nor  allowing 
his  understanding  to  sympathize  with  the  affects  of 
the  miserable  flesh. 

67.  Nature  has  not  so  mingledf  [the  intelligence]  with 
the  composition  of  the  body,  as  not  to  have  allowed 
thee  the  power  of  circumscribing  thyself  and  of  bring- 
ing under  subjection  to  thyself  all  that  is  thy  own; 
for  it  is  very  possible  to  be  a divine  man  and  to  be 
recognized  as  such  by  no  one.  Always  bear  this  in 
mind ; and  another  thing  too,  that  very  little  indeed 
is  necessary  for  living  a happy  life.  And  because  thou 
hast  despaired  of  becoming  a dialectician  and  skilled  in 
the  knowledge  of  nature,  do  not  for  this  reason  re- 
nounce the  hope  of  being  both  free  and  modest  and 
social  and  obedient  to  God. 

68.  It  is  in  thy  power  to  live  free  from  all  compul- 
sion in  the  greatest  tranquillity  of  mind,  even  if  all 
the  world  cry  out  against  thee  as  much  as  they  choose, 
and  even  if  wild  beasts  tear  in  pieces  the  members  of 
this  kneaded  matter  which  has  grown  around  thee. 
For  what  hinders  the  mind  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
from  maintaining  itself  in  tranquillity,  and  in  a just 
judgment  of  all  surrounding  things,  and  in  a ready 
use  of  the  objects  which  are  presented  to  it,  so  that 


Aristophan,  Nub.  363. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


221 


the  judgment  may  say  to  the  thing  which  falls  under 
its  observation:  This  thou  art  in  substance  [reality], 
though  in  men’s  o]iinion  thou  mayest  appear  to  be  of 
a different  kind  ; and  the  use  shall  say  to  that  which 
falls  under  the  hand : Thou  art  the  thing  that  I was 
seeking  ; for  to  me  that  which  presents  itself  is  always 
a material  for  virtue,  both  rational  and  political,  and, 
in  a word,  for  the  exercise  of  art,  which  belongs  to 
man  or  God.  For  everthing  which  happens  has  a 
relationship  either  to  God  or  man,  and  is  neither  new 
nor  difficult  to  handle,  but  usual  and  apt  matter  to 
work  on. 

69.  The  perfection  of  moral  character  consists  in 
this,  in  passing  every  day  as  the  last,  and  in  being 
neither  violently  excited,  nor  torpid,  nor  playing  the 
hypocrite. 

70.  The  gods  who  are  immortal  are  not  vexed  be- 
cause during  so  long  a time  they  must  tolerate  contin- 
ually men  such  as  they  are  and  so  many  of  them  bad  ; 
and  besides  this,  they  also  take  care  of  them  in  all 
ways.  But  thou,  who  art  destined  to  end  so  soon,  art 
thou  wearied  of  enduring  the  bad,  and  this  too  when 
thou  art  one  of  them  ? 

71.  It  is  a ridiculous  thing  for  a man  not  to  fly  from, 
his  own  badness,  which  is  indeed  possible,  but  to  fl}^ 
from  other  men’s  badness,  which  is  impossible. 

72.  Whatever  the  rational  and  political  [social] 
faculty  finds  to  be  neither  intelligent  nor  social,  it 
properly  judges  to  be  inferior  to  itself. 

73.  When  thou  hast  done  a good  act  and  another 
has  received  it,  why  dost  thou  still  look  for  a third  thing 
besides  these,  as  fools  do,  either  to  have  the  reputation 
of  having  done  a good  act  or  to  obtain  a return  ? 


222 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


74.  No  man  is  tired  of  receiving  what  is  useful.  But 
it  is  useful  to  act  according  to  nature.  Do  not  then 
be  tired  of  receiving  what  is  useful  by  doing  it  to 
others. 

75.  The  nature  of  the  All  moved  to  make  the  uni- 
verse. But  now  either  everything  that  takes  place 
comes  by  way  of  consequence  or  [continuity] ; or  even 
the  chief  things  toward  which  the  ruling  power  of  the 
universe  directs  its  own  movement  are  governed  by 
no  rational  principle.  If  this  is  remembered  it  will 
make  thee  more  tranquil  in  many  things  (vi.  44 ; ix. 

28j.* 

* It  is  not  easy  to  understand  this  section.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  there  is  some  error  in  aX6yi6ra,  etc.  Some  of  the  trans- 
lators have  made  nothing  of  the  passage,  and  they  have  somewhat 
perverted  the  words.  The  first  proposition  is,  that  the  universe  was 
made  by  some  sufficient  power.  A beginning  of  the  universe  is 
assumed,  and  a power  'which  framed  an  order.  The  next  question 
is.  How  are  things  produced  now;  or,  in  other  words,  by  what  power 
do  forms  appear  in  continuous  succession  ? The  answer,  according  to 
Antoninus,  may  be  this:  It  is  by  virtue  of  the  original  constitution 
of  things  that  all  change  and  succession  have  been  effected  and  are 
effected.  And  this  is  intelligible  in  a sense,  if  we  admit  that  the 
universe  is  always  one  and  the  same,  a continuity  of  identity;  as 
much  one  and  the  same  as  man  is  one  and  the  same,  which  he 
believes  himself  to  be,  though  he  also  believes,  and  cannot  help  believ- 
ing, that  both  in  his  body  and  in  his  thoughts  there  is  change  and 
succession.  There  is  no  real  discontinuity  then  in  the  universe  ; and 
if  we  say  that  there  was  an  order  framed  in  the  beginning  and  that 
the  things  which  are  now  produced  are  a consequence  of  a previous 
arrangement,  we  speak  of  things  as  we  are  compelled  to  view  them, 
as  forming  a series  or  succession  ; just  as  we  speak  of  the  changes 
in  our  own  bodies  and  the  sequence  of  our  own  thoughts.  But  as 
there  are  no  intervals,  not  even  intervals  infinitely  small,  between 
any  two  supposed  states  of  any  one  thing,  so  there  are  no  intervals, 
not  even  infinitely  small,  between  what  we  call  one  thing  and  any 
Other  thing  which  we  speak  of  as  immediately  preceding  or  follow- 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


223 


ing  it.  What  we  call  time  is  an  idea  derived  from  our  notion  of  a 
succession  of  things  or  events,  an  idea  which  is  a part  of  our  con- 
stitution, but  not  an  idea  which  we  can  suppose  to  belong  to  an 
infinite  intelligence  and  power.  The  conclusion  then  is  certain  that 
the  present  and  the  past,  the  production  of  present  things  and  the 
supposed  original  order,  out  of  which  we  say  that  present  things 
now  come,  are  one  ; and  the  present  productive  power  and  the  so- 
called  past  arrangement  are  only  different  names  for  one  thing.  I 
suppose  then  that  Antoninus  wrote  here  as  people  sometimes  talk 
now,  and  that  his  real  meaning  is  not  exactly  expressed  by  his  words. 
There  are  certainly  other  passages  from  which,  1 think,  that  we  may 
collect  that  he  had  notions  of  production  something  like  what  1 have 
expressed. 

We  now  come  to  the  alternative  : “or  even  the  chief  things 
. . . principle.”  I do  not  exactly  know  what  he  means  by 
rd  nvpiQbrara,  “the  chief,”  or  “the  most  excellent,”  or  whatever 
it  is.  But  as  he  speaks  elsewhere  of  inferior  and  superior  things, 
and  of  the  inferior  being  for  the  use  of  the  superior,  and  of  rational 
beings  being  the  highest,  he  may  here  mean  rational  beings.  He  also, 
in  this  alternative,  assumes  a governing  power  of  the  universe,  and 
that  it  acts  by  directing  its  power  toward  these  chief  objects,  or 
making  its  special,  proper,  motion  toward  them.  And  here  he  uses 
the  noun  (bpprf)  “movement,”  which  contains  the  same  notion  as 
the  verb  {Spprjde)  “moved,”  which  he  used  at  the  beginning  of  the 
paragraph  when  he  was  speaking  of  the  making  of  the  universe.  If 
we  do  not  accept  the  first  hypothesis,  he  says,  we  must  take  the  con- 
clusion of  the  second,  that  the  ‘ ‘ chief  things  toward  which  the 
ruling  power  of  the  universe  directs  its  own  movement  are  governed 
by  no  rational  principle.”  The  meaning  then  is,  if  there  is  a mean- 
ing in  it,  that  though  there  is  a governing  power,  which  strives  to 
give  effect  to  its  efforts,  we  must  conclude  that  there  is  no  rational 
direction  of  anything,  if  the  power  which  first  made  the  universe 
does  not  in  some  way  govern  it  still.  Besides,  if  we  assume  that 
anything  is  now  produced  or  now  exists  without  the  action  of  the 
supreme  intelligence,  and  yet  that  this  intelligence  makes  an  effort 
to  act,  we  obtain  a conclusion  which  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the 
nature  of  a supreme  power,  whose  existence  Antoninus  always 
assumes.  The  tranquillity  that  a man  may  gain  from  these  reflec- 
tions must  result  from  his  rejecting  the  second  hypothesis,  and 
accepting  the  first ; whatever  may  be  the  exact  sense  in  which  the 
emperor  understood  the  first.  Or,  as  he  says  elsewhere,  if  there  is 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


■lU 

no  providence  which  governs  the  world,  man  has  at  least  the  power 
of  governing  himself  according  to  the  constitution  of  his  nature ; 
and  so  he  may  he  tranquil,  if  he  does  the  best  that  he  can. 

If  there  is  no  error  in  the  passage,  it  is  worth  the  labor  to  dis- 
cover the  writer’s  exact  meaning  ; for  I think  that  he  had  a meaning, 
though  people  may  not  agree  what  it  was.  (Compare  ix.  28.)  If  I 
have  rightly  explained  the  emperor’s  meaning  in  this  and  other  pas- 
sages, he  has  touched  the  solution  of  a great  question. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


225 


VIII. 

This  reflection  also  tends  to  the  removal  of  the  desire 
of  empty  fame,  that  it  is  no  longer  in  thy  power  to 
have  lived  the  whole  of  thy  life,  or  at  least  thy  life 
from  thy  youth  upward,  like  a philosopher;  but  both 
to  many  others  and  to  thyself  it  is  plain  that  thou  art 
far  from  philosophy.  Thou  hast  fallen  into  disorder 
then,  so  that  it  is  no  longer  easy  for  thee  to  get  the 
reputation  of  a philosopher ; and  thy  plan  of  life  also 
opposes  it.  If  then  thou  hast  truly  seen  where  the 
matter  lies,  throw  away  the  thought.  How  thou  shalt 
seem  [to  others],  and  be  coutent  if  thou  shalt  live 
the  rest  of  thy  life  in  such  wise  as  thy  nature  wills. 
Observe  then  what  it  wills,  and  let  nothing  else  distract 
thee ; for  thou  hast  had  experience  of  many  wander- 
ings without  having  found  happiness  anyivliere,  not 
in  syllogisms,  nor  in  wealth,  nor  in  reputation,  nor  in 
enjoyment,  nor  anywhere.  Where  is  it  then?  In 
doing  what  man’s  nature  requires.  How  then  shall  a 
man  do  this  ? If  he  has  principles  from  which  come 
his  affects  and  his  acts.  What  principles?  Those 
which  relate  to  good  and  bad : the  belief  that  there  is 
nothing  good  for  man,  which  does  not  make  him  just, 
temperate,  manly,  free ; and  that  there  is  nothing  bad, 
which  does  not  do  the  contrary  to  what  has  been 
mentioned. 

2.  On  the  occasion  of  every  act  ask  thyself,  Hoav  is 


226 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OP 


this  with  respect  to  me  ? Shall  I repent  of  it  ? A 
little  time  and  I am  dead,  and  all  is  gone.  What  more 
do  I seek,  if  what  I am  now  doing  is  the  work  of  an 
intelligent  living  being,  and  a social  being,  and  one 
who  is  under  the  same  law  with  God? 

3.  Alexander  and  Caius*  and  Pompeius,  what  are 
they  in  comparison  with  Diogenes  and  Heraclitus  and 
Socrates?  For  they  were  acquainted  with  things,  and 
their  causes  [forms],  and  their  matter,  and  the  ruling 
principles  of  these  men  were  the  same  [or  conformable 
to  their  pursuits].  But  as  to  the  others,  how  many 
things  had  they  to  care  for,  and  to  how  many  things 
were  they  slaves. 

4.  [Consider]  that  men  will  do  the  same  things 
nevertheless,  even  though  thou  shouldst  burst. 

5.  This  is  the  chief  thing : Be  not  perturbed,  for  all 
things  are  according  to  the  nature  of  the  universal ; 
and  in  a little  time  thou  wilt  be  nobody  and  nowhere, 
like  Hadrianus  and  Augustus.  In  the  next  place 
having  fixed  thy  eyes  steadily  on  thy  business  look  at 
it,  and  at  the  same  time  remembering  that  it  is  thy 
duty  to  be  a good  man,  and  what  man’s  nature 
demands,  do  that  without  turning  aside ; and  speak  as 
it  seems  to  thee  most  just,  only  let  it  be  with  a 
good  disposition  and  with  modesty  and  without 
hypocrisy. 

6.  The  nature  of  the  universal  has  this  work  to  do, 
to  remove  to  that  place  the  things  which  are  in  this,  to 
change  them,  to  take  them  away  hence,  and  to  carry 
them  there.  All  things  are  change,  yet  we  need  not 
fear  anything  new.  All  things  are  familiar  [to  us]  ; 
but  the  distribution  of  them  still  remains  the  same. 

*Caius  is  C.  Julius  Caesar,  the  dictator;  and  Pompeius  is  Cn. 
Pompeius,  named  Magnus. 


MARC  US  A URELtUS  ANTONINUS.  221 

7.  Every  nature  is  contented  with  itself  when  it  goes 
on  its  way  well ; and  a rational  nature  goes  on  its  way 
well,  when  in  its  thoughts  it  assents  to  nothing  false  or 
uncertain,  and  when  it  directs  its  movements  to  social 
acts  only,  and  when  it  confines  its  desires  and  aversions 
to  the  things  which  are  in  its  power,  and  when  it  is 
satisfied  with  everything  that  is  assigned  to  it  by  the 
common  nature.  For  of  this  common  nature  every 
particular  nature  is  a part,  as  the  nature  of  the  leaf  is 
a part  of  the  nature  of  the  plant ; except  that  in  the 
plant  the  nature  of  the  leaf  is  part  of  a nature  which 
has  not  perception  or  reason,  and  is  subject  to  be 
impeded ; but  the  nature  of  man  is  part  of  a nature 
Avhich  is  not  subject  to  impediments,  and  is  intelligent 
and  just,  since  it  gives  to  everything  in  equal  portions 
and  according  to  its  worth,  times,  substance,  cause 
[form],  activity,  and  incident.  But  examine,  not  to 
discover  that  any  one  thing  compared  with  any  other 
single  thing  is  equal  in  all  respects,  but  by  taking  all 
the  parts  together  of  one  thing  and  comparing  them 
with  all  the  parts  together  of  another. 

8.  Thou  hast  not  leisure  [or  ability]  to  read.  But 
thou  hast  leisure  [or  ability]  to  check  arrogance  : thou 
hast  leisui’e  to  be  superior  to  pleasure  and  pain  : thou 
hast  leisure  to  be  superior  to  love  of  fame,  and  not  to 
be  vexed  at  stupid  and  ungrateful  people,  nay  even  to 
care  for  them. 

9.  Let  no  man  any  longer  hear  thee  finding  fault 
with  the  court  life  or  with  thy  own  (v.  16). 

10.  Repentance  is  a kind  of  self-reproof  for  having 
neglected  something  useful ; but  that  which  is  good 
must  be  something  useful,  and  the  perfect  good  man 
should  look  after  it.  But  no  such  man  would  ever 


228 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


repent  of  having  refused  any  sensual  pleasure.  Pleasure 
then  is  neither  good  nor  useful. 

11.  This  thing,  what  is  it  in  itself,  in  its  own  consti- 
tution? What  is  its  substance  and  material?  And 
what  its  causal  nature  [or  form]  ? And  what  is  it  doing 
in  the  world  ? And  how  long  does  it  subsist? 

12.  When  thou  risest  from  sleep  Avith  reluctance, 
remember  that  it  is  according  to  thy  constitution  and 
according  to  human  nature  to  perform  social  acts,  but 
sleeping  is  common  also  to  irrational  animals.  But 
that  Avhich  is  according  to  each  individual’s  nature 
is  also  more  peculiarly  its  OAvn,  and  inore  suitable  to  its 
nature,  and,  indeed,  also  more  agreeable  (v.  1). 

13.  Constantly  and,  if  it  be  possible,  on  the  occasion 
of  every  impression  on  the  soul,  apply  to  it  the  princi- 
ples of  Physic,  of  Ethic,  and  of  Dialectic. 

14.  Whatever  man  thou  meetest  Avith,  immediately 
say  to  thyself : What  opinions  has  this  man  about  good 
and  bad?  For  if  Avith  respect  to  pleasure  and  pain 
and  the  causes  of  each,  and  Avith  respect  to  fame  and 
ignominy,  death  and  life  he  has  such  and  such  opinions, 
it  Avill  seem  nothing  wonderful  or  strange  to  me,  if  he 
does  such  and  such  things ; and  I shall  bear  in  mind 
that  he  is  compelled  to  do  so.* 

15.  Eemember  that  as  it  is  a shame  to  be  surprised 
if  the  fig-tree  produces  figs,  so  it  is  to  be  surprised  if 
the  AAmrld  produces  such  and  such  things  of  which  it 
is  productive ; and  for  the  physician  and  the  helms- 
man it  is  a shame  to  be  surprised,  if  a man  has  a fever, 
or  if  the  Avind  is  unfaAmrable. 

16.  Eemember  that  to  change  thy  opinion  and  to 
folloAv  him  Avho  corrects  thy  error  is  as  consistent  Avith 


* Antoninus  V.  16.  Thucydides,  iii.  10. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS.  229 

freedom  as  it  is  to  persist-  in  thy  error.  For  it  is  thy 
own,  the  activity  which  is  exerted  according  to  thy 
own  movement  and  judgment,  and  indeed  according 
to  thy  own  understanding  too. 

17.  If  a thing  is  in  thy  own  power,  why  dost  thou 
do  it  ? but  if  it  is  in  the  power  of  another,  w^hom  dost 
thou  blame  ? the  atoms  [chance]  or  the  gods  ? Both  are 
foolish.  Thou  must  blame  nobody.  For  if  thou  canst, 
correct  [that  which  is  the  cause] ; but  if  thou  canst 
not  do  this,  correct  at  least  the  thing  itself ; but  if  thou 
canst  not  do  even  this,  of  what  use  is  it  to  thee  to  find 
fault?  for  nothing  should  be  done  without  a purpose. 

18.  That  which  has  died  falls  not  out  of  the  universe. 
If  it  stays  here,  it  also  changes  here,  and  is  dis- 
solved into  its  proper  parts,  which  are  elements  of  the 
universe  and  of  thyself.  And  these  too  change,  and 
they  murmur  not. 

19.  Everything  exists  for  some  end,  a horse,  a vine. 
Why  dost  thou  wonder  ? Even  the  sun  will  say,  I 
am  for  some  purpose,  and  the  rest  of  the  gods  will 
say  the  same.  For  what  purpose  then  art  thou?  To 
enjoy  pleasure  ? See  if  common  sense  allows  this. 

20.  ^Nature  has  had  regard  in  everything  no  less  to 
the  end  than  to  the  beginning  and  the  continuance, 
just  like  the  man  who  throws  up  a ball.  What  good 
is  it  then  for  the  ball  to  be  thrown  up,  or  harm  for  it 
to  come  down,  or  even  to  have  fallen  ? And  what  good 
is  it  to  the  bubble  while  it  holds  together,  or  what 
harm  when  it  is  burst  ? The  same  may  be  said  of  a 
light  also. 

21.  Turn  it  [the  body]  inside  out,  and  see  what  kind 
of  thing  it  is;  and  when  it  has  grown  old,  what  kind 
of  thing  it  becomes,  and  when  it  is  diseased. 


230 


\ fHE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


Short  lived  are  both  the  praiser  and  the  praised,  and 
the  rememberer  and  the  remembered : and  all  this  in 
a nook  of  this  part  of  the  world ; and  not  even  here 
do  all  agree,  no,  not  any  one  with  himself : and  the 
whole  earth  too  is  a point. 

22.  Attend  to  the  matter  which  is  before  thee, 
whether  it  is  an  opinion  or  an  act  or  a word. 

Thou  sulferest  this  justly:  for  thou  choosest  rather 
to  become  good  to-morrow  than  to  be  good  to-day. 

23.  Am  I doing  anything?  I do  it  Avith  reference 
to  the  good  of  mankind.  Does  anything  happen  to 
me?  I receive  it  and  refer  it  to  the  gods,  and  the 
scource  of  all  things,  from  which  all  that  happens  is 
derived. 

24.  Such  as  bathing  appears  to  thee — oil,  SAA^eat,  dirt, 
filthy  Avater,  all  things  disgusting — so  is  every  part  of 
life  and  everything. 

25.  Lucilla  saw  Verus  die,  and  then  Lucilla  died. 
Secunda  saAV  Maximus  die,  and  then  Secunda  died. 
Epitynchanus  saAV  Diotimus  die,  and  then  Epityncha- 
nus  died.  Antoninus  saAV  Faustina  die,  and  then 
Antoninus  died.  Such  is  everything.  Celer  saAV 
Hadrianus  die,  and  then  Celer  died.  And  those  sharp- 
Avitted  men,  either  seers  or  men  inflated  Avith  pride, 
Avhere  are  they  ? for  instance,  the  sharp-Avitted  men, 
Charax  and  Demetrius  the  Platonist  and  Eudmmon, 
and  any  one  else  like  them.  All  ephemeral,  dead  long 
ago.  Some  indeed  have  not  been  remembered  even 
for  a short  time,  and  others  have  become  the  heroes  of 
fables,  and  again  others  liaA^e  disappeared  eA'en  from 
fables.  Remember  this,  then,  that  this  little  com- 
pound, thyself,  must  either  be  dissolved,  or  thy  poor 
breath  must  be  extinguished,  or  be  remoA^ed  and  placed 
elseAvhere. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


231 


26.  It  is  satisfaction  to  a man  to  do  the  proper  works 
of  a man.  Now  it  is  a proper  work  of  a man  to  be 
benevolent  to  his  own  kind,  to  despise  the  movements 
of  the  senses,  to  form  a just  judgment  of  plausible 
appearances,  and  to  take  a survey  of  the  nature  of  the 
universe  and  of  the  things  which  happen  in  it. 

27.  There  are  three  relations  [between  thee  and 
other  things] : the  one  to  the  body  which  surrounds 
thee ; the  second  to  the  divine  cause  from  which  all 
things  come  to  all ; and  the  third  to  those  who  live 
with  thee. 

28.  Pain  is  either  an  evil  to  the  body — then  let  the 
body  say  what  it  thinks  of  it — or  to  the  soul ; but  it  is 
in  the  power  of  the  soul  to  maintain  its  own  serenity 
and  tranquillity,  and  not  to  think  that  pain  is  an  evil. 
For  every  judgment  and  movement  and  desire  and 
aversion  is  within,  and  no  evil  ascends  so  high. 

29.  Wipe  out  thy  imaginations  by  often  saying  to 
thyself : now  it  is  in  my  power  to  let  no  badness  be  in 
this  soul,  nor  desire,  nor  any  perturbation  at  all ; but 
looking  at  all  things  I see  what  is  their  nature,  and  I 
use  each  according  to  its  value.  Remember  this  power 
Avhich  thou  hast  from  nature. 

30.  Speak  both  in  the  senate  and  to  every  man,  who- 
ever he  may  be,  appropriately,  not  with  any  affecta- 
tion ; use  plain  discourse. 

31.  Augustus’  court,  wife,  daughter,  descendants, 
ancestors,  sister,  Agrippa,  kinsmen,  intimates,  friends, 
Areius,*  Maecenas,  physicians  and  sacrificing  priests — 
the  whole  court  is  dead.  Then  turn  to  the  rest,  not 

* Areius  was  a pliilosoplier,  wlio  was  intimate  with  Augustus  ; 
Sucton,  Augustus,  c.  89  ; Plutarch,  Antoninus,  80  ; Dion  Cassius,  51, 
c.  16. 


232 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


considering  the  death  of  a single  man,  [but  of  a whole 
race],  as  of  the  Pompeii ; and  that  which  is  inscribed 
on  the  tombs — the  last  of  his  race.  Then  consider 
Avhat  trouble  those  before  them  have  had  that  they 
might  leave  a successor ; and  then,  that  of  necessity 
some  one  must  be  the  last.  Again  here  consider  the 
death  of  a Avhole  race. 

32.  It  is  thy  duty  to  order  thy  life  Avell  in  every 
single  act ; and  if  every  act  does  its  duty,  as  far  as  is 
possible,  be  content;  and  no  one  is  able  to  hinder  thee 
so  that  each  act  shall  not  do  its  duty — but  something 
external  Avill  stand  in  the  Avay.  Nothing  Avill  stand 
in  the  Avay  of  thy  acting  justly  and  soberly  and  con- 
siderately, but  perhaps  some  other  active  power  will 
be  hindered.  Well,  but  by  acquiescing  in  the  hin- 
derance  and  by  being  content  to  transfer  thy  efforts  to 
that  Avhich  is  allowed,  another  opportunity  of  action 
is  immediately  put  before  thee  in  place  of  that  Avhich 
Avas  hindered,  and  one  Avhich  will  adapt  itself  to  this 
ordering  of  Avhich  Ave  are  speaking. 

33.  Receive  [AA^ealth  or  prosperity]  Avithout  arro. 
gance ; and  be  ready  to  let  it  go. 

34.  If  thou  didst  ever  see  a hand  cut  off,  or  a foot, 
or  a head,  lying  anywhere  apart  from  the  rest  of  the 
body,  such  does  a man  make  himself,  as  far  as  he  can, 
Avho  is  not  content  Avith  what  happens,  and  separates 
himself  from  others,  or  does  anything  unsocial.  Sup- 
])ose  that  thou  hast  detached  thyself  from  the  natural 
unity — for  thou  wast  made  by  nature  a part,  but  now 
thou  hast  cut  thyself  off — yet  here  there  is  this  beauti- 
ful provision,  that  it  is  in  thy  poAver  again  to  unite 
thyself.  God  has  allowed  this  to  no  other  part,  after 
it  has  been  separated  and  cut  asunder,  to  come 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


233 


together  again.  But  consider  the  kindness  by  which 
he  has  distinguished  man,  for  he  has  put  it  in  his 
power  not  to  be  separated  at  all  from  the  universal ; 
and  when  he  has  been  separated,  he  has  allowed  him 
to  return  and  to  be  united  and  to  resume  his  place  as  a 
part. 

35.  As  the  natui’e  of  the  universal  has  given  to  every 
rational  being  all  the  other  powers  that  it  has,f  so  we 
have  received  from  it  this  power  also.  For  as  the 
universal  nature  converts  and  fixes  in  its  predestined 
place  everything  which  stands  in  the  way  and  opposes 
it,  and  makes  such  things  a part  of  itself,  so  also  the 
rational  animal  is  able  to  make  every  hinderance  its 
OAvn  material,  and  to  use  it  for  such  purposes  as  it  maj^ 
have  designed. 

36.  Do  not  disturb  thyself  by  thinking  of  the  Avhole 
of  thy  life.  Let  not  thy  thoughts  at  once  embrace  all 
the  various  troubles  which  thou  mayest  expect  to 
befall  thee : but  on  every  occasion  ask  thyself,  What 
is  there  in  this  which  is  intolerable  and  past  bearing? 
for  thou  Avilt  be  ashamed  to  confess.  In  the  next 
place  remember  that  neither  the  future  nor  the  past 
pains  thee,  but  only  the  present.  But  this  is  reduced 
to  a very  little,  if  thou  only  circumscribest  it,  and 
chidest  thy  mind,  if  it  is  unable  to  hold  out  against 
even  this. 

37.  Does  Panthea  or  Pergamus  now  sit  by  the  tomb 
of  Yerus?*  Does  Chaurias  or  Diotimus  sit  by  the  tomb 
of  Hadrianus?  That  Avould  be  ridiculous.  Well,  sup- 
pose they  did  sit  there,  AA^ould  the  dead  be  conscious 
of  it?  and  if  the  dead  were  conscious,  would  they  be 

*“  Veras”  is  a conjecture  of  Saumaise,  and  perhaps  the  true 
reading. 


234 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


pleased?  and  if  they  ^yere  pleased,  would  that  make 
them  immortal?  Was  it  not  in  the  order  of  destiny 
that  these  persons  too  should  first  become  old  women 
and  old  men  and  then  die?  What  then  would  those 
do  after  these  were  dead  ? All  this  is  foul  smell  and 
blood  in  a bag. 

38.  If  thou  canst  see  sharp,  look  and  judge  wisely,! 
says  the  philosopher. 

39.  In  the  constitution  of  the  rational  animal  I see 
no  virtue  which  is  o]iposed  to  justice ; but  I see  a 
virtue  which  is  opposed  to  love  of  pleasure,  and  that 
is  temperance. 

40.  If  thou  takest  away  thy  opinion  about  tliat 
which  appears  to  give  thee  pain,  thou  thyself  standest 
in  perfect  security.  Who  is  this  self  ? The  reason. 
But  I am  not  reason.  Be  it  so.  Let  then  the  reason 
itself  not  trouble  itself.  But  if  any  other  part  of  thee 
suffers,  let  it  have  its  own  opinion  about  itself  (vii.  16). 

41.  Ilinderance  to  the  perceptions  of  sense  is  an  evil 
to  the  animal  nature.  Hinderance  to  the  movements 
[desires]  is  equally  an  evil  to  the  animal  nature.  And 
something  else  also  is  equally  an  impediment  and  an 
evil  to  the  constitution  of  plants.  So  then  that  which 
is  a hinderance  to  the  intelligence  is  an  evil  to  the 
intelligent  nature.  Apply  all  these  things  then  to 
thyself.  Does  pain  or  sensuous  pleasure  affect  thee  ? 
The  senses  will  look  to  that.  Has  any  obstacle  opposed 
thee  in  thy  efforts  toAvard  an  object?  if  indeed  thou 
wast  making  this  effort  absolutely  [unconditionally,  or 
without  any  reservation],  certainly  this  obstacle  is  an 
evil  to  thee  considered  as  a rational  animal.  But  if 
thou  takest  [into  consideration]  the  usual  course  of 
things,  thou  hast  not  yet  been  injured  nor  even  im- 


MARCUS  A UBELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


235 


peded.  The  things  however  which  are  proper  to  the 
understanding  no  other  man  is  used  to  impede,  for 
neither  fire,  nor  iron,  nor  tyrant,  nor  abuse,  touches  it 
in  any  way.  When  it  has  been  made  a sphere,  it 
continues  a sphere  (xi.  12). 

4:2.  It  is  not  fit  that  I should  give  myself  pain,  for  I 
have  never  intentionally  given  pain  even  to  another. 

48.  Different  things  delight  different  people.  But 
it  is  my  delight  to  keep  the  ruling  faculty  sound  with- 
out turning  away  either  from  any  man  or  from  any 
of  the  things  which  happen  to  men,  but  looking  at 
and  receiving  all  with  welcome  eyes  and  using  every 
thing  according  to  its  value. 

44.  See  that  thou  secure  this  present  time  to  thyself ; 
for  those  who  rather  pursue  posthumous  fame  do  not 
consider  that  the  men  of  after  time  will  be  exactly 
such  as  these  whom  they  cannot  bear  now ; and  both 
are  mortal.  And  what  is  it  in  any  way  to  thee  if 
these  men  of  after  time  utter  this  or  that  sound,  or 
have  this  or  that  opinion  about  thee. 

45.  Take  me  and  cast  me  where  thou  wilt ; for  there 
I shall  keep  my  divine  part  tranquil,  that  is,  content, 
if  it  can  feel  and  act  conformably  to  its  proper  con- 
stitution. Is  this  [change  of  place]  sufficient  reason 
why  my  soul  should  be  unhappy  and  worse  than  it 
was,  depressed,  expanded,  shrinking,  affrighted?  and 
what  wilt  thou  find  which  is  sufficient  reason  for  this.* 

46.  Nothing  can  happen  to  any  man  which  is  not  a 
human  accident,  nor  to  an  ox  Avhich  is  not  according 
to  the  nature  of  an  ox,  nor  to  a vine  AA^hich  is  not 

* opeyoi-iEvrj  in  this  passage  seems  to  have  a passive  sense.  It  is 
difficult  to  find  an  apt  expression  for  it  and  some  of  the  other  words. 
A comparison  with  xi.  12,  will  help  to  explain  the  meaning. 


236 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


according  to  the  nature  of  a vine,  nor  to  a stone  which 
is  not  proper  to  a stone.  If  then  there  happens  to  eacii 
thing  both  what  is  usual  and  natural,  why  shouldst 
thou  complain?  For  the  common  nature  brings 
nothing  which  may  not  be  borne  by  thee. 

47.  If  thou  art  pained  by  any  external  thing,  it  is 
not  this  thing  that  disturbs  thee,  but  thy  own  judg- 
ment about  it.  And  it  is  in  thy  power  to  wipe  out 
this  judgment  now.  But  if  anything  in  thy  own  dis- 
position gives  thee  pain,  who  hinders  thee  from  cor- 
recting thy  opinion?  And  even  if  thou  art  pained 
because  thou  art  not  doing  some  particular  thing 
which  seems  to  thee  to  be  right,  why  dost  thou  not 
rather  act  than  complain?  But  some  insuperable 
obstacle  is  in  the  way  ? Do  not  be  grieved  then,  for 
the  cause  of  its  not  being  done  depends  not  on  thee. 
But  it  is  not  worth  while  to  live,  if  this  cannot  be 
done.  Take  thy  departure  then  from  life  contentedly, 
just  as  he  dies  who  is  in  full  activity,  and  well  pleased 
too  with  the  things  which  are  obstacles. 

48.  Remember  that  the  ruling  faculty  is  invincible, 
wRen  self-collected  it  is  satisfied  with  itself,  if  it  does 
nothing  which  it  does  not  choose  to  do,  even  if  it  resist 
from  mere  obstinacy.  What  then  will  it  be  when  it 
forms  a judgment  about  anything  aided  by  reason  and 
deliberately  ? Therefore  the  mind  which  is  free  from 
passions  is  a citadel,  for  man  has  nothing  more  secure 
to  which  he  can  fly  for  refuge  and  for  the  future  be 
inexpugnable.  He  then  who  has  not  seen  this  is  an 
ignorant  man ; but  he  who  has  seen  it  and  does  not  fly 
to  this  refuge  is  unhappy. 

49.  Say  nothing  more  to  thyself  than  what  the  first 
appearances  report.  Suppose  that  it  has  been  reported 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


237 


to  thee  that  a certain  person  speaks  ill  of  thee.  This 
has  been  repoi’tecl ; but  that  thou  hast  been  injured, 
that  has  not  been  reported.  I see  that  my  child  is 
sick.  I do  see ; but  that  he  is  in  danger,  I do  not  see. 
Thus  then  always  abide  by  the  first  appearances,  and 
add  nothing  thyself  from  within,  and  then  nothing 
happens  to  thee.  Or  rather  add  something,  like  a man 
who  knows  everything  that  happens  in  the  world. 

50.  A cucumber  is  bitter.  Throw  it  away.  There 
are  briars  in  the  road.  Turn  aside  from  them.  This 
is  enough.  Do  not  add.  And  why  were  such  things 
made  in  the  world?  For  thou  wilt  be  ridiculed  by  a 
man  who  is  acquainted  with  nature,  as  thou  wouldst 
be  ridiculed  by  a carpenter  and  shoemaker  if  thou 
didst  find  fault  because  thou  seest  in  their  workshop 
shavings  and  cuttings  from  the  things  which  they 
make.  And  yet  they  have  places  into  which  they  can 
throw  these  shavings  and  cuttings,  and  the  universal 
nature  has  no  external  space ; but  the  wondrous  part  of 
her  art  is  that  though  she  has  circumscribed  herself, 
everything  within  her  which  appears  to  decay  and  to 
grow  old  and  to  be  useless  she  changes  into  herself, 
and  again  makes  other  new  things  from  these  very 
same,  so  that  she  requires  neither  substance  from  with- 
out nor  wants  a place  into  which  she  may  cast  that 
Avhich  decays.  She  is  content  then  with  her  own 
space,  and  her  own  matter,  and  her  own  art. 

51.  Neither  in  thy  actions  be  sluggish,  nor  in  thy 
conversation  without  method,  nor  wandering  in  thy 
thoughts,  nor  let  there  be  in  thy  soul  inward  conten- 
tion nor  external  effusion,  nor  in  life  be  so  busy  as  to 
have  no  leisure. 

Suppose  that  men  kill  thee,  cut  thee  in  pieces,  curse 


238 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


thee.  What  then  can  these  things  do  to  prevent  thy 
mind  from  remaining  pure,  wise,  sober,  just?  For 
instance,  if  a man  should  stand  by  a limpid  pure  spring, 
and  curse  it,  the  spring  never  ceases  sending  up  potable 
Avater  ; and  if  he  should  cast  clay  into  it  or  filth,  it 
Avill  speedily  disperse  them  and  wash  them  out,  and 
will  not  be  at  all  polluted.  How  then  shalt  thou  pos- 
sess a perpetual  fountain  [and  not  a mere  well]  ? By 
formingt  thyself  hourly  to  freedom  conjoined  with 
contentment,  simplicity  and  modesty. 

62.  He  who  does  not  know  what  the  world  is,  does 
not  know  where  he  is.  And  he  Avho  does  not  know 
for  what  purpose  the  Avorld  exists,  does  not  know  who 
he  is,  nor  Avhat  the  world  is.  But  he  who  has  failed 
in  any  one  of  these  things  could  not  even  say  for  what 
purpose  he  exists  himself.  What  then  dost  thou  think 
of  him  Avho  [avoids  or]  seeks  the  praise  of  those  Avho 
applaud,  of  men  who  know  not  either  where  they  are 
or  who  they  are  ? 

53.  Dost  thou  wish  to  be  praised  by  a man  Avho 
curses  himself  thrice  every  hour?  Wouldst  thou  Avish 
to  please  a man  Avho  does  not  please  himself?  Does  a 
man  please  himself  Avho  repents  of  nearly  everything 
that  he  does  ? 

64.  Ho  longer  let  thy  breathing  only  act  in  concert 
Avith  the  air  which  surrounds  thee,  but  let  thy  intelli- 
gence also  noAV  be  in  harmony  Avith  the  intelligence 
Avhich  embraces  all  things.  For  the  intelligent  poAver 
is  no  less  diffused  in  all  parts  and  pervades  all  things 
for  him  who  is  Avilling  to  draAv  it  to  him  than  the 
aerial  poAver  for  him  Avho  is  able  to  respire  it. 

55.  Generally,  Avickedness  does  no  harm  at  all  to  the 
universe ; and  particularly,  the  AAUckedness  [of  one 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


239 


man]  does  no  harm  to  another.  It  is  only  harmful  to 
him  who  has  it  in  his  power  to  be  released  from  it,  as 
soon  as  he  shall  choose. 

56.  To  my  own  free  will  the  free  will  of  my  neigh- 
bor is  just  as  indifferent  as  his  poor  breath  and  flesh. 
For  though  we  are  made  especially  for  the  sake  of  one 
another,  still  the  ruling  power  of  each  of  us  has  its 
own  olBce,  for  otherwise  my  neighbor’s  wickedness 
would  be  my  harm,  wdiich  God  has  not  willed  in  order 
that  my  unhappiness  may  not  depend  on  another. 

57.  The  sun  appears  to  be  poured  down,  and  in  all 
directions  indeed  it  is  diffused,  yet  it  is  not  effused. 
For  this  diffusion  is  extension  : Accordingly  its  rays 
are  called  Extensions  [aKrz^es]  because  they  are  ex- 
tended [azro  Tov  eKTeive6Qai\.^  But  one  may  judge 
what  kind  of  a thing  a ray  is,  if  he  looks  at  the  sun’s 
light  passing  through  a narrow  opening  into  a 
darkened  room,  for  it  is  extended  in  a right  line,  and, 
as  it  were,  is  divided  when  it  meets  with  any  solid  body 
which  stands  in  the  way  and  intercepts  the  air  beyond ; 
but  there  the  light  remains  fixed  and  does  not  glide  or 
fall  off.  Such  then  ought  to  be  the  outpouring  and 
diffusion  of  the  understanding,  and  it  should  in  no 
way  be  an  effusion,  but  an  extension,  and  it  should 
make  no  violent  or  impetuous  collision  with  the  obsta- 
cles which  are  in  its  way ; nor  yet  fall  doAvn,  but  be 
fixed  and  enlightened  that  which  receives  it.  For  a 
body  will  deprive  itself  of  the  illumination,  if  it  does 
not  admit  it. 

58.  He  who  fears  death  either  fears  the  loss  of  sen- 
sation or  a different  kind  of  sensation.  But  if  thou 
shalt  have  no  sensation,  neither  wilt  thou  feel  any 

* A piece  of  bad  etymology. 


240 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


harm  ; and  if  thou  shalt  acquire  another  kind  of  sensa- 
tion, thou  wilt  be  a different  kind  of  living  being,  and 
thou  wilt  not  cease  to  live. 

59.  Men  exist  for  the  sake  of  one  another.  Teach 
them  then  or  bear  with  them. 

60.  In  one  way  an  arrow^  moves,  in  another  way  the 
mind.  The  mind,  indeed,  both  when  it  exercises 
caution  and  when  it  is  employed  about  inquiry,  moves 
straight  onward  not  the  less,  and  to  its  object. 

61.  Enter  into  every  man’s  ruling  faculty  ; and  also 
let  every  other  man  enter  into  thine.* 


Compare  Epictetus,  iii.  9,  13. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


241 


IX. 

He  who  acts  unjustly  acts  impiously.  For  since  the 
universal  nature  has  made  rational  animals  for  the  sake 
of  one  another  to  help  one  another  according  to  their 
deserts,  hut  in  no  way  to  injure  one  another,  he  who 
transgresses  her  will,  is  clearly  guilty  of  impiety 
toward  the  highest  divinity.  And  he  too  who  lies  is 
guilty  of  impiety  to  the  same  divinity ; for  the  uni- 
versal nature  is  the  nature  of  things  that  are ; and 
things  that  are  have  a relation  to  all  things  that  come 
into  existence.*  And  further,  this  universal  nature  is 
named  truth,  and  is  the  prime  cause  of  all  things  that 
are  true.  He  then  who  lies  intentionally  is  guilty  of 
impiety  inasmuch  as  he  acts  unjustly  by  deceiving  ; and 
he  also  who  lies  unintentionally,  inasmuch  as  he  is  at 
variance  with  the  universal  nature,  and  inasmuch  as  he 
disturbs  the  order  by  fighting  against  the  nature  of 
the  world ; for  he  fights  against  it,  who  is  moved  of 
himself  to  that  which  is  contrary  to  truth,  for  he  had 

*“As  there  is  not  any  action  or  natural  event,  which  we  are 
acquainted  with,  so  single  and  unconnected  as  not  to  have  a respect 
to  some  other  actions  and  events,  so,  possibly  each  of  them,  when  it 
has  not  an  immediate,  may  yet  have  a remote,  natural  relation  to 
other  actions  and  events,  much  beyond  the  compass  of  this  present 
world.”  Again:  “Things  seemingly  the  most  insignificant  imagin- 
able, are  perpetually  observed  to  be  necessary  conditions  to  other 
things  of  the  greatest  importance;  so  that  any  one  thing  whatever, 
may,  for  aught  we  know  to  the  contrary,  be  a necessary  condition  to 
any  other.”  (Butler’s  Analogy,  Chap.  7.  See  all  the  chapter.) 


U2 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OP 


I’eceived  powers  from  nature  through  the  neglect  of 
which  he  is  not  able  now  to  distinguish  falsehood  from 
truth.  And,  indeed,  he  who  pursues  pleasure  as  good, 
and  avoids  pain  as  evil,  is  guilty  of  impiety.  For  of 
necessity  such  a man  must  often  find  fault  with  the 
universal  nature,  alleging  that  it  assigns  things  to  the 
bad  and  tlie  good  contrary  to  their  deserts,  because 
frequently  the  bad  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  pleasure 
and  possess  the  things  which  procure  pleasure,  but  the 
good  have  pain  for  their  share  and  the  things  which 
cause  pain.  And  further,  he  wdio  is  afraid  of  pain  will 
sometimes  also  be  afraid  of  some  of  the  things  which 
will  happen  in  the  world,  and  even  this  is  inipiet}'^. 
And  he  who  pursues  pleasure  wdll  not  abstain  from 
injustice,  and  this  is  plainly  impiety.  Now,  with 
respect  to  the  things  toward  which  the  universal 
nature  is  equally  affected — for  it  would  not  have  made 
both,  unless  it  was  equally  affected  toward  both- — 
toward  these  they  who  wish  to  follow  nature  should  be 
of  the  same  mind  with  it,  and  equally  affected.  With 
respect  to  pain,  then,  and  pleasure,  or  death  and  life, 
or  honor  and  dishonor,  which  the  universal  nature 
employs  equally,  whoever  is  not  equally  affected  is 
manifestly  acting  impiously.  And  I say  that  the  uni- 
versal nature  employs  them  equally,  instead  of  saying 
that  they  happen  alike  to  those  who  are  produced  in 
continuous  series  and  to  those  who  come  after  them 
by  virtue  of  a certain  original  movement  of  Provi- 
dence, according  to  which  it  moved  from  a certain 
beginning  to  this  ordering  of  things,  having  conceived 
certain  principles  of  the  things  which  were  to  be,  and 
having  determined  powers  productive  of  beings  and  of 
changes  and  of  such  like  successions  (vii.  75). 


MARCUS  A UBELIUS  ANTONINUS.  241 

2.  It  would  be  a man’s- happiest  lot  to  depart  from 
mankind  without  having  had  any  taste  of  lying  and 
hypocrisy  and  luxury  and  pride.  However  to  breathe 
out  one’s  life  when  a man  has  had  enough  of  these 
things  is  the  next  best  voyage,  as  the  saying  is.  Hast 
thou  determined  to  abide  with  vice,  and  has  not 
experience  yet  induced  thee  to  lly  from  this  pestilence  ? 
For  the  destruction  of  the  understanding  is  a pesti- 
lence, much  more,  indeed,  than  any  such  corruption 
and  change  of  this  atmosphere  which  suiTounds  us. 
For  this  corruption  is  a pestilence  of  animals  so  far  as 
they  are  animals ; but  the  other  is  a pestilence  of  men 
so  far  as  they  are  men. 

3.  Do  not  despise  death,  but  be  well  content  with 
it,  since  this  too  is  one  of  those  things  which  nature 
wills.  For  such  as  it  is  to  be  young  and  to  grow  old, 
and  to  increase  and  to  reach  maturity,  and  to  have 
teeth  and  beard  and  gray  hairs,  and  to  beget,  and  to 
be  pregnant,  and  to  bring  forth,  and  all  the  other 
natural  operations  which  the  seasons  of  thy  life  bring, 
such  also  is  dissolution.  This,  then,  is  consistent  with 
the  character  of  a reflecting  man,  to  be  neither  care- 
less nor  impatient  nor  contemptuous  with  respect  to 
death,  but  to  wait  for  it  as  one  of  the  operations  of 
nature.  As  thou  now  waitest  for  the  time  when  the 
child  shall  come  out  of  th}'-  wife’s  womb,  so  be  ready 
for  the  time  when  thy  soul  shall  fall  out  of  this 
envelope.*  But  if  thou  requires!  also  a vulgar  kind 
of  comfort  which  shall  reach  thy  heart,  thou  wilt  be 
made  best  reconciled  to  death  by  observing  the  objects 
from  which  thou  art  going  to  be  removed,  and  the 
morals  of  those  with  whom  thy  soul  will  no  longer  be 


*See  note  of  the  Philosophy,  p.  67. 


244  the  MEHITATI0N8  OF 

mingled.  For  it  is  no  right  to  be  offended  with 
men,  but  it  is  thy  duty  to  care  for  them  and  to  bear 
with  them  gently ; and  yet  to  remember  that  thy 
departure  will  be  not  from  men  who  have  the  same 
])i’inciples  as  thyself.  For  this  is  the  only  thing,  if 
there  be  any,  which  could  draw  us  the  contrary  way 
and  attach  us  to  life,  to  be  permitted  to  live  with  those 
who  have  the  same  principles  as  ourselves.  But  now 
thou  seest  how  great  is  the  trouble  arising  from  the 
discordance  of  those  who  live  together,  so  that  thou 
mayest  say.  Come  quick,  O death,  lest  perchance  I,  too, 
should  forget  mj^self. 

4.  He  who  does  wrong  does  wrong  against  himself. 
He  who  acts  unjustly  acts  unjustly  to  himself,  because 
he  makes  himself  bad. 

5.  He  often  acts  unjustly  who  does  not  do  a certain 
thing ; not  only  he  who  does  a certain  thing. 

6.  Thy  present  opinion  founded  on  understanding, 
and  thy  present  conduct  directed  to  social  good,  and 
thy  present  disposition  of  contentment  with  every 
thing  whicli  happensf — that  is  enough. 

7.  Wipe  out  imagination : check  desire:  extinguish 
appetite : keep  the  ruling  faculty  in  its  own  power. 

8.  Among  the  animals  which  have  not  reason  one 
life  is  distributed ; but  among  reasonable  animals  one 
intelligent  soul  is  distributed : just  as  there  is  one 
earth  of  all  things  Avhich  are  of  an  earthly  nature, 
and  we  see  by  one  light,  and  breathe  one  air,  all  of  us 
that  have  the  facult}'^  of  vision  and  all  that  have  life. 

9.  All  things  which  participate  in  anything  which 
is  common  to  them  all  move  toward  that  which  is  of 
the  same  kind  with  themselves.  Everything  which  is 
earthly  turns  toward  the  earth,  everything  which  is 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


245 


liquid  flows  together,  and  everything  which  is  of  an 
aerial  kind  does  the  same,  so  that  they  require  some- 
thing to  keep  them  asunder,  and  the  application  of 
force.  Fire  indeed  moves  upward  on  account  of  the 
elemental  fire,  but  it  is  so  ready  to  be  kindled  together 
with  all  the  fire  which  is  here,  that  even  every  sub- 
stance which  is  somewhat  drv,  is  easily  ignited,  because 
there  is  less  mingled  with  it  of  that  which  is  a hinder- 
ance  to  ignition.  Accordinghq  then  everything  also 
which  participates  in  the  common  intelligent  nature 
moves  in  like  manner  toward  that  which  is  of  the 
same  kind  with  itself,  or  moves  even  more.  For  so 
much  as  it  is  superior  in  comparison  with  all  other 
things,  in  the  same  degree  also  is  it  more  ready  to 
mingle  with  and  to  be  fused  with  that  which  is  akin 
to  it.  Accordingly  among  animals  devoid  of  reason 
we  find  swarms  of  bees,  and  herds  of  cattle,  and  the 
nurture  of  young  birds,  and  in  a manner,  loves ; for 
even  in  animals  there  are  souls,  and  that  power  which 
brings  them  together  is  seen  to  exert  itself  in  the 
superior  degree,  and  in  such  a way  as  never  has  been 
observeddn  plants  nor  in  stones  nor  in  trees.  But  in 
rational  animals  there  are  political  communities  and 
friendships,  and  families  and  meetings  of  people ; and 
in  wars,  treaties  and  armistices.  But  in  the  things 
which  are  still  superior,  even  though  they  are  sepa- 
rated from  one  another,  unit}'^  in  a manner  exists,  as  in 
the  stars.  Thus  the  ascent  to  the  higher  degree  is  able 
to  produce  a sympathy  even  in  things  which  are  sepa- 
rated. See,  then,  what  now  takes  place.  For  only 
intelligent  animals  have  now  forgotten  this  mutual 
desire  and  inclination,  and  in  them  alone  the  property 
of  flowing  together  is  not  seen.  But  still,  though  men 


246 


THE  MEmTATToNS  OP 


strive  to  avoid  [this  union],  they  are  caught  and  held 
by  it,  for  their  nature  is  too  strong  for  them  ; and  thou 
wilt  see  what  I say,  if  thou  only  observest.  Sooner, 
then,  will  one  find  anything  earthy  which  comes  in 
contact  with  no  earthy  thing  than  a man  altogether 
separated  from  other  men. 

10.  Both  man  and  God  and  the  universe  produce 
fruit ; at  the  proper  seasons  each  produces  it.  But  if 
usage  has  especially  fixed  these  terms  to  the  vine  and 
like  things,  this  is  notliing.  Beason  produces  fruit 
both  for  all  and  for  itself,  and  there  are  produced  from 
it  other  things  of  the  same  kind  as  reason  itself. 

11.  If  thou  art  able,  correct  by  teaching  those  who 
do  wrong;  but  if  thou  canst  not,  remember  that  indul- 
gence is  given  to  thee  for  this  purpose.  And  the  gods, 
too,  are  indulgent  to  such  persons ; and  for  some  pur- 
poses they  even  help  them  to  get  health,  wealth, 
reputation  ; so  kind  they  are.  And  it  is  in  thy  poAver 
also ; or  say,  Avho  hinders  thee  ? 

12.  Labor  not  as  one  who  is  wretched,  nor  yet  as 
one  who  would  be  pitied  or  admired ; but  direct  thy 
Avill  to  one  thing  only,  to  put  thyself  in  motion  and  to 
check  thyself,  as  the  social  reason  requires. 

13.  To-day  I have  got  out  of  all  trouble,  or  rather  I 
have  cast  out  all  trouble,  for  it  was  not  outside,  but 
within  and  in  my  opinions. 

14.  All  things  are  the  same,  familiar  in  experience, 
and  ephemeral  in  time,  and  worthless  in  the  matter. 
Everything  now  is  just  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  those 
whom  Ave  have  buried. 

15.  Things  stand  outside  of  us,  themselves  by  them- 
selves, neither  knoAving  aught  of  themselves,  nor  ex- 
pressing any  judgment.  What  is  it,  then,  Avhich  does 
judge  about  them?  The  ruling  faculty. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


24? 


16.  N’ot  in  passivity,  but  in  activity  lie  the  evil  and 
the  good  of  the  rational  social  animal,  just  as  his  virtue 
and  his  vice  lie  not  in  passivity,  but  in  activity.* 

17.  For  the  stone  which  has  been  thrown  up  it  is  no 
evil  to  come  down,  nor  indeed  any  good  to  have  been 
carried  up  (viii.  20). 

18.  Penetrate  inward  into  men’s  leading  principles, 
and  thou  wilt  see  what  judges  thou  art  afraid  of,  and 
what  kind  of  judges  they  are  of  themselves. 

19.  All  things  are  changing ; and  thou  thyself  art 
in  continuous  mutation  and  in  a manner  in  continuous 
destruction,  and  the  whole  universe  too. 

20.  It  is  thy  duty  to  leave  another  man’s  wrongful 
act  there  where  it  is  (vii.  29,  ix.  38). 

21.  Termination  of  activity,  cessation  from  move- 
ment and  opinion,  and  in  a sense  their  death,  is  no 
evil.  Turn  thy  thoughts  now  to  the  consideration  of 
thy  life,  thy  life  as  a child,  as  a youth,  thy  manhood, 
thy  old  age,  for  in  these  also  every  change  was  a death. 
Is  this  anything  to  fear?  Turn  thy  thoughts  now  to 
thy  life  under  thy  grandfather,  then  to  thy  life  under 
thy  mother,  then  to  thy  life  under  thy  father ; and  as 
thou  findest  many  other  differences  and  changes  and 
terminations,  ask  thyself.  Is  this  anything  to  fear  ? In 
like  manner,  then,  neither  are  the  termination  and 
cessation  and  change  of  thy  whole  life  a thing  to  be 
afraid  of. 

22.  Hasten  [to  examine]  thy  own  ruling  faculty  and 
that  of  the  universe  and  that  of  thy  neighbor ; thy 
own  that  thou  mayest  make  it  just ; and  that  of  the 
universe,  that  thou  mayest  remember  of  what  thou  art 

*“Virtiitis  omnis  laus  in  actione  consistH.”  (Cicero,  De 
Off,  i 6.) 


248 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


a part ; and  that  of  thy  neighbor,  that  thou  mayest 
know  whether  he  has  acted  ignorantly  or  with  knowl- 
edge, and  that  thou  mayest  also  consider  that  his  ruling 
faculty  is  akin  to  thine. 

23.  As  thou  thyself  art  a component  part  of  a social 
system,  so  let  every  act  of  thine  be  a component  part 
of  social  life.  Whatever  act  of  thine  then  has  no 
reference,  either  immediately  or  remotely,  to  a social 
end,  this  tears  asunder  thy  life,  and  does  not  allow  it 
to  be  one,  and  it  is  of  the  nature  of  a mutiny,  just  as 
when  in  a popular  assembly  a man  acting  by  himself 
stands  apart  from  the  general  agreement. 

24.  Quarrels  of  little  children  and  their  sports,  and 
poor  spirits  carrying  about  dead  bodies  [such  is  every- 
thing] ; and  so  what  is  exhibited  in  the  representation 
of  the  mansions  of  the  dead  strikes  our  eyes  more 
clearly. 

25.  Examine  into  the  quality  of  the  form  of  an 
object,  and  detach  it  altogether  from  its  material  part, 
and  then  contemplate  it ; then  determine  the  time,  the 
longest  which  a thing  of  this  peculiar  form  is  naturally 
made  to  endure. 

26.  Thou  hast  endured  infinite  troubles  through  not 
being  contented  with  thy  ruling  faculty,  when  it  does 
the  things  which  it  is  constituted  by  nature  to  do.  But 
enoughf  [of  this]. 

27.  When  another  blames  thee  or  hates  thee,  or 
when  men  say  about  thee  anything  injurious,  approach 
their  poor  souls,  penetrate  within,  and  see  what  kind 
of  men  they  are.  Thou  wilt  discover  that  there  is  no 
reason  to  take  any  trouble  that  these  men  may  have 
this  or  that  opinion  about  thee.  However,  thou  must 
be  well-disposed  toward  them,  for  by  nature  they  are 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANl'ONmUS. 


249 


friends.  And  the  gods  too  aid  them  in  all  ways,  by 
dreams,  by  signs,  toward  the  attainment  of  those  things 
on  which  they  set  a value. f 

28.  The  periodic  movements  of  the  universe  are  the 
same,  up  and  down  from  age  to  age.  And  either  the 
universal  intelligence  puts  itself  in  motion  for  every 
separate  etfect,  and  if  this  is  so,  be  thou  content  with 
that  which  is  the  result  of  its  activity ; or  it  puts  itself 
in  motion  once,  and  everything  else  comes  by  way  of 
sequence  in  a manner ; or  indivisible  elements  are  the 
origin  of  all  things.  In  a word,  if  there  is  a god,  all  is 
well ; and  if  chance  rules,  do  not  thou  also  be  governed 
by  it  (vi.  44,  vii.  75). 

Soon  will  the  earth  cover  us  aU : then  the  earth,  too, 
will  change,  and  the  things  also  which  result  from 
change  will  continue  to  change  forever,  and  these 
again  forever.  For  if  a man  reflects  on  the  changes 
and  transformations  which  follow  one  another  like 
wave  after  wave  and  their  rapidity,  he  will  despise 
everything  which  is  perishable  (xii.  21). 

29.  The  universal  cause  is  like  a winter  torrent ; it 
carries  everything  along  with  it.  But  how  worthless 
are  all  these  poor  people  who  are  engaged  in  matters 
political,  and,  as  they  suppose,  are  playing  the  philoso- 
pher! All  drivelers.  Well  then,  man:  do  what 
nature  now  requires.  Set  thyself  in  motion,  if  it  is  in 
thy  power,  and  do  not  look  about  thee  to  see  if  any 
one  will  observe  it ; nor  \"et  expect  Plato’s  Kepublic ; * 
but  be  content  if  the  smallest  thing  goes  on  well,  and 
consider  such  an  event  to  be  no  small  matter.  For  who 
can  change  men’s  opinions  ? And  without  a change  of 

* Those  who  wish  to  know  what  Plato’s  Republic  is,  may  now 
study  it  in  the  accurate  translation  of  Davies  and  Vaughan. 


250 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


opinions  what  else  is  there  than  the  slavery  of  men 
who  groan  while  they  pretend  to  obey  ? Come  now 
and  tell  me  of  Alexander  and  Philippus  and  Demetrius 
of  Phalerum.  They  themselves  shall  judge  whether 
they  discovered  what  the  common  nature  required,  and 
trained  themselves  accordingly.  But  if  they  acted  like 
tragedy  heroes,  no  one  has  condemned  me  to  imitate 
them.  Simple  and  modest  is  the  work  of  philosophy. 
Draw  me  not  aside  to  insolence  and  pride. 

30.  Look  down  from  above  on  the  countless  herds  of 
men  and  their  countless  solemnities,  and  the  infinitely 
varied  voyagings  in  storms  and  calms,  and  the  differ- 
ences among  those  who  are  born,  who  live  together, 
and  die.  And  consider,  too,  the  life  lived  by  others  in 
olden  time,  and  the  life  of  those  who  will  live  after 
thee,  and  the  life  now  lived  among  barbarous  nations, 
and  hoAV  many  know  not  even  thy  name,  and  how 
many  will  soon  forget  it,  and  how  the}^  who,  perhaps, 
now  are  praising  thee  will  very  soon  blame  thee,  and 
that  neither  a posthumous  name  is  of  any  value,  nor 
reputation,  nor  anything  else. 

31.  Let  there  be  freedom  from  perturbations  with 
respect  to  the  things  which  come  from  the  external 
cause ; and  let  there  be  justice  in  the  things  done  by 
virtue  of  the  internal  cause,  that  is,  let  there  be  move- 
ment and  action  terminating  in  this,  in  social  acts,  for 
this  is  according  to  thy  nature. 

32.  Thou  canst  remove  out  of  the  way  many  useless 
things  among  those  which  disturb  thee,  for  they  lie 
entirely  in  thy  opinion ; and  thou  wilt  then  gain  for 
thyself  ample  space  by  comprehending  the  whole  uni- 
verse in  thy  mind,  and  by  contemplating  the  eternity 
of  time,  and  observing  the  rapid  change  of  every  sev- 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


251 


eral  thing,  how  short  is  the  time  from  birth  to  dissolu- 
tion, and  the  illimitable  time  before  birth  as  well  as 
the  equally  boundless  time  after  dissolution. 

33.  All  that  thou  seest  Avill  quickly  perish,  and  those 
who  have  been  spectatois  of  its  dissolution  will  veiy 
soon  perish  too.  And  he  who  dies  at  the  extremest 
old  age  will  be  brought  into  the  same  condition  with 
him  who  died  prematurely. 

34.  What  are  these  men’s  leading  principles,  and 
about  what  kind  of  things  are  they  busy,  and  for  what 
kind  of  reasons  do  they  love  and  honor  ? Imagine  that 
thou  seest  their  poor  souls  laid  bare.  When  they 
think  that  they  do  harm  by  their  blame  or  good  by 
their  praise,  what  an  idea  ! 

35.  Loss  is  nothing  else  than  change.  But  the  uni- 
versal nature  delights  in  change,  and  in  obedience  to 
her  all  things  are  now  done  well,  and  from  eternity 
have  been  done  in  like  form,  and  will  be  such  to  time 
without  end.  What,  then,  dost  thou  say?  That  all 
things  have  been  and  all  things  always  will  be  bad, 
and  that  no  power  has  ever  been  found  in  so  many 
gods  to  rectify  these  things,  but  the  Avorld  has  been 
condemned  to  be  bound  in  never-ceasing  evil  ? (iv.  45, 
vii.  18.) 

36.  The  rottenness  of  the  matter  which  is  the  foun- 
dation of  everything!  water,  dust,  bones,  filth;  or 
again,  marble  rocks,  the  callosities  of  the  earth ; and 
gold  and  silver,  the  sediments ; and  garments,  only 
bits  of  hair;  and  purple  dye,  blood;  and  everything 
else  is  of  the  same  kind.  And  that  which  is  of  the 
nature  of  breath,  is  also  another  thing  of  the  same 
kind,  changing  from  this  to  that. 

37.  Enough  of  this  wretched  life  and  murmuring 


252 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


and  apish  tricks.  Why  art  thou  disturbed  ? What  is 
there  new  in  this?  What  unsettles  thee?  Is  it  the 
form  of  the  thing?  Look  at  it.  Or  is  it  the  matter? 
Look  at  it.  But  besides  these  there  is  nothinsr. 
Toward  the  gods,  then,  now  become  at  last  more  sim- 
ple and  better.  It  is  the  same  whether  we  examine 
these  things  for  a hundred  years  or  three. 

38.  If  any  man  has  done  wrong,  the  harm  is  his 
own.  But  perhaps  he  has  not  done  wrong. 

39.  Either  all  things  proceed  from  one  intelligent 
source  and  come  together  as  in  one  body,  and  the  part 
ought  not  to  find  fault  with  what  is  done  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole;  or  there  are  only  atoms,  and 
nothing  else  than  mixture  and  dispersion.  Why,  then, 
art  thou  disturbed  ? Say  to  the  ruling  faculty,  Art 
thou  dead,  art  thou  corrupted,  art  thou  playing  the 
hypocrite,  art  thou  become  a beast,  dost  thou  herd  and 
feed  with  the  rest  ?^' 

40.  Either  the  gods  have  no  power  or  they  have 
power.  If,  then,  they  have  no  power,  why  dost  thou 
pray  to  them  ? But  if  they  have  power,  why  dost 
thou  not  pray  for  them  to  give  thee  the  faculty  of  not 
fearing  any  of  the  things  which  thou  fearest,  or  of  not 
desiring  any  of  the  things  which  thou  desirest,  or  not 
being  pained  at  anything,  rather  than  pray  that  any 
of  these  things  sliould  not  happen  or  happen?  for  cer- 
tainly if  they  can  co-operate  with  men,  they  can  co- 
operate for  these  purposes.  But  perhaps  thou  wilt 
say,  the  gods  have  placed  them  in  thy  power.  Well, 

* There  is  some  corruption  at  the  end  of  this  section  ; but  I think 
that  the  translation  expresses  the  emperor’s  meaning.  Whether  intelli- 
gence rules  all  things  or  chance  rules,  a man  must  not  he  disturbed. 
He  must  use  the  power  that  he  has,  and  be  tranquil. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


253 


then,  is  it  not  better  to  use  what  is  in  thy  power  like 
a free  man  than  to  desire  in  a slavish  and  abject  way 
what  is  not  in  thy  power  ? And  who  has  told  thee 
that  the  gods  do  not  aid  us  even  in  the  things  which 
are  in  our  power?  Begin,  then,  to  pra}'^  for  such 
things,  and  thou  wilt  see.  One  man  prays  thus  : How 
shall  I be  able  to  lie  with  that  woman  ? Do  thou  pray 
thus : How  shall  I not  desire  to  lie  with  her  ? Another 
prays  thus : How  shall  I be  released  from  this  ? 
Another  prays  : How  shall  I not  desme  to  be  released  ? 
Another  thus:  How  shall  I not  lose  my  little  son? 
Thou  thus  : Hoav  shall  I not  be  afraid  to  lose  him  ? In 
fine,  turn  thy  prayers  this  way,  and  see  what  comes. 

41.  Epicurus  sa}'s.  In  m}^  sickness  my  conversation 
Avas  not  about  my  bodily  sufferings,  nor,  saj^s  he,  did  I 
talk  on  such  subjects  to  those  Avho  visited  me ; but  I 
continued  to  discourse  on  the  nature  of  things  as 
before,  keeping  to  this  main  point,  how  the  mind, 
Avhile  participating  in  such  movements  as  go  on  in  the 
poor  flesh,  shall  be  free  from  perturbations  and  main- 
tain its  proper  good.  Hor  did  I,  he  says,  give  the 
physicians  an  opportunity  of  putting  on  solemn  looks, 
as  if  they  were  doing  something  great,  but  my  life 
Avent  on  Avell  and  happily.  Do,  then,  the  same  that  he 
did  both  in  sickness,  if  thou  art  sick,  and  in  any  other 
circumstances  ; for  never  to  desert  philosophy  in  any 
events  that  may  befall  us,  nor  to  hold  trifling  talk  either 
Avith  an  ignorant  man  or  with  one  unacquainted  Avith 
nature,  is  a principle  of  all  schools  of  philosophy ; but 
to  be  intent  only  on  that  Avhich  thou  art  noAV  doing 
and  on  the  instrument  by  Avhich  thou  doest  it. 

42.  When  thou  art  offended  Avith  any  man’s  shame- 
less conduct,  immediately  ask  thyself,  Is  it  possible, 


254 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


then,  that  shameless  men  should  not  be  in  the  world  ? 
It  is  not  possible.  Do  not,  then,  require  what  is  impos- 
sible. For  this  man  also  is  one  of  those  shameless  men 
who  must  of  necessity  be  in  the  world.  Let  the  same 
considerations  be  present  to  thy  mind  in  the  case  of 
the  knave,  and  the  faithless  man,  and  of  every  man 
who  does  wrong  in  any  way.  For,  at  the  same  time, 
that  thou  dost  remind  thyself  that  it  is  impossible  that 
such  kind  of  men  should  not  exist,  thou  wilt  become 
more  kindly  disposed  toward  every  one  individually. 
It  is  useful  to  perceive  tliis,  too,  immediately  when  the 
occasion  arises,  what  virtue  nature  has  given  to  man  to 
oppose  to  every  wrongful  act.  For  she  has  given  to 
man,  as  an  antidote  against  the  stupid  man,  mildness, 
and  against  another  kind  of  man  some  other  power. 
And  in  all  cases  it  is  possible  for  thee  to  correct  by 
teaching  the  man  who  is  gone  astray  ; for  every  man 
who  errs  misses  his  object  and  is  gone  astray.  Besides 
wherein  hast  thou  been  injured?  For  thou  wilt  find 
that  no  one  among  those  against  whom  thou  art 
irritated  has  done  anything  by  which  thy  mind  could 
be  made  worse ; but  that  which  is  evil  to  thee  and 
harmful  has  its  foundation  only  in  the  mind.  And 
what  harm  is  done  or  Avhat  is  there  strange,  if  the  man 
who  has  not  been  instructed  does  the  acts  of  an  unin- 
structed man?  Consider  whether  thou.shouldst  not 
rather  blame  thyself,  because  thou  didst  not  expect 
such  a man  to  err  in  such  a Avay.  For  thou  hadst 
means  given  thee  by  thy  reason  to  supjiose  that  it  Avas 
likely  that  he  Avould  commit  this  error,  and  yet  thou 
hast  forgotten  and  art  amazed  that  he  has  erred.  But 
most  of  all  Avhen  thou  blamest  a man  as  faithless  or 
ungrateful,  turn  to  thyself.  For  the  fault  is  manifestly 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


255 


thy  own,  whether  thou  didst  trust  that  a man  who  had 
such  a disposition  would  keep  his  promise,  or  when 
conferring  thy  kindness  thou  didst  not  confer  it  abso- 
lutely, nor  yet  in  such  way  as  to  have  received  from 
thy  very  act  all  the  profit.  For  what  more  dost  thou 
want  when  thou  hast  done  a man  a service?  Art  thou 
not  content  that  thou  hast  done  something  conforma- 
ble to  thy  nature,  and  dost  thou  seek  to  be  paid  for  it  ? 
Just  as  if  the  eye  demanded  a recompense  for  seeing, 
or  the  feet  for  walking.  For  as  these  members  are 
formed  for  a particular  purpose,  and  by  working 
according  to  their  several  constitutions  obtain  what  is 
their  own  ; so  also  as  man  is  formed  by  nature  to  acts 
of  benevolence,  when  he  has  done  anything  benevolent 
or  in  any  other  way  conducive  to  the  common  interest, 
he  has  acted  conformably  to  his  constitution,  and  he 
gets  what  is  his  own. 


256 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


X. 

Wilt  thou,  then,  my  soul,  never  be  good  and  simple 
and  one  and  naked,  more  manifest  than  the  body 
which  surrounds  thee?  Wilt  thou  never  enjoy  an 
affectionate  and  contented  disposition?  Wilt  thou 
never  be  full  and  without  a want  of  any  kind,  longing 
for  nothing  more,  nor  desiring  anything,  either  ani- 
mate or  inanimate,  for  the  enjoyment  of  pleasures? 
nor  yet  desii’ing  time  wherein  thou  shalt  have  longer 
enjoyment,  or  place,  or  ]ileasant  climate,  or  societ}'^  of 
men  with  wliom  thou  mayest  live  in  harmony  ? but  wilt 
thou  be  satisfied  with  thy  present  condition,  and 
pleased  with  all  that  is  about  thee,  and  wilt  thou  con- 
vince thyself  that  thou  hast  everything  and  that  it 
comes  from  the  gods,  that  everything  is  well  for  thee, 
and  will  be  well  whatever  shall  please  them,  and  what- 
ever they  shall  give  for  the  conservation  of  the  perfect 
living  being,*  the  good  and  just  and  beautiful,  which 
generates  and  holds  together  all  things,  and  contains 
and  embraces  all  things  which  are  dissolved  for  the 
production  of  other  like  things?  Wilt  thou  never  be 
such  that  thou  shalt  so  dwell  in  community  with  gods 
and  men  a,s  neither  to  find  fault  with  them  at  all,  nor 
to  be  condemned  by  them  ? 

2.  Oliserve  what  thy  nature  requires,  so  far  as  thou 

* That  is,  (lod  (iv.  40),  as  he  is  defined  by  Zeno.  But  the  con- 
fusion between  gods  and  God  is  strange. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


257 


art  governed  by  nature  only ; then  do  it  and  accept  it, 
if  thy  nature,  so  far  as  thou  art  a living  being,  shall 
not  be  made  worse  by  it.  And  next  thou  must  observe 
what  thy  nature  requires  so  far  as  thou  art  a living 
being.  And  all  this  thou  mayest  allow  thyself^  if  thy 
nature,  so  far  as  thou  art  a rational  animal,  shall  not 
be  made  worse  by  it.  But  the  rational  animal  is  conse- 
quently also  a political  [social]  animal.  Use  these 
rules,  then,  and  trouble  thyself  about  nothing  else. 

3.  Everything  which  happens  either  happens  in  such 
wise  as  thou  art  formed  by  nature  to  bear  it,  or  as 
thou  art  not  formed  by  nature  to  bear  it.  If,  then,  it 
happens  to  thee  in  such  way  as  thou  art  formed  by 
nature  to  bear  it,  do  not  complain,  but  bear  it  as  thou 
art  formed  by  nature  to  bear  it.  But  if  it  happens  in 
such  wise  as  thou  art  not  formed  by  nature  to  bear  it, 
do  not  complain,  for  it  will  perish  after  it  has  con- 
sumed thee.  Eemember,  however,  that  thou  art 
formed  by  nature  to  bear  everything,  with  respect  to 
which  it  depends  on  thy  own  opinion  to  make  it  endur- 
able and  tolerable,  by  thinking  that  it  is  either  thy 
interest  or  thy  duty  to  do  this. 

4.  If  a man  is  mistaken,  instruct  him  kindly  and 
show  him  his  error.  But  if  thou  art  not  able,  blame 
thyself,  or  blame  not  even  thyself. 

5.  Whatever  may  happen  to  thee,  it  was  prepared 
for  thee  from  all  eternity;  and  the  implication  of 
causes  was  from  eternity  spinning  the  thread  of  thy 
being,  and  of  that  which  is  incident  to  it  (iii.  11 ; iv.  26). 

6.  Whether  the  universe  is  [a  concourse  of]  atoms, 
or  nature  [is  a system],  let  this  first  be  established, 
that  I am  a part  of  the  Avhole  which  is  goA^erned  by 
nature ; next,  I am  in  a manner  intimately  related  to 


358 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


the  parts  which  are  of  the  same  kind  with  myself. 
For  remembering  this,  inasmuch  as  I am  a part,  I shall 
be  discontented  with  none  of  the  things  which  are 
assigned  to  me  out  of  the  whole ; for  nothing  is  in- 
jurious to  the  part,  if  it  is  for  the  advantage  of  the 
whole.  For  the  whole  contains  nothing  Avhich  is  not 
for  its  advantage  ; and  all  natures  indeed  have  this 
common  principle,  but  the  nature  of  the  universe  has 
this  principle  besides,  that  it  cannot  be  compelled  even 
by  any  external  cause  to  generate  anything  harmful  to 
itself.  By  remembering,  then,  that  I am  a part  of 
such  a whole,  I shall  be  content  with  everything  that 
happens.  And  inasmuch  as  I am  in  a manner  inti- 
mately related  to  the  parts  which  are  of  the  same 
kind  with  myself,  I shall  do  nothing  unsocial,  but  I 
shall  rather  direct  myself  to  the  things  which  are  of 
the  same  kind  with  myself,  and  I shall  turn  all  my 
efforts  to  the  common  interest,  and  divert  them  from 
the  contrary.  ISTow,  if  these  things  are  done  so,  life 
must  flow  on  happily,  just  as  thou  mayest  observe  that 
the  life  of  a citizen  is  happy,  who  continues  a course  of 
action  which  is  advantageous  to  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
is  content  with  whatever  the  state  may  assign  to  him. 

7.  The  parts  of  the  whole,  everything,  I mean,  which 
is  naturally  comprehended  in  the  universe,  must  of 
neeessity  perish ; but  let  this  be  understood  in  this 
sense,  that  they  must  undergo  change.  But  if  this  is 
naturally  both  an  evil  and  a necessity  for  the  parts, 
the  whole  would  not  continue  to  exist  in  a good  con- 
dition, the  parts  being  subject  to  change  and  consti- 
tuted so  as  to  perish  in  various  ways.  For  whether 
did  nature  herself  design  to  do  evil  to  the  things  which 
are  parts  of  herself,  and  to  make  them  subject  to  evil 


MARCUS  A URBLIUS  AMTOmNUS. 


259 


and  of  necessity  fall  into  evil,  or  have  such  results 
happened  without  her  knowing  it  ? Both  these  sup- 
positions, indeed,  are  incredible.  But  if  a man  should 
even  drop  the  term  Nature  [as  an  efficient  power], 
and  should  speak  of  these  things  as  natural,  even  then 
it  would  be  ridiculous  to  affirm  at  the  same  time  that 
the  parts  of  the  whole  are  in  their  nature  subject  to 
change,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  surprised  or  vexed 
as  if  something  were  happening  contrary  to  nature, 
particularly  as  the  dissolution  of  things  is  into  those 
things  of  which  each  thing  is  composed.  For  there  is 
either  a dispersion  of  the  elements  out  of  which  every 
thing  has  been  compounded,  or  a change  from  the 
solid  to  the  earthly  and  from  the  airy  to  the  aerial,  so 
that  these  parts  are  taken  back  into  the  universal 
reason,  whether  this  at  certain  periods  is  consumed  by 
fire  or  renewed  by  eternal  changes.  And  do  not 
imagine  that  the  solid  and  the  airy  part  belong  to  thee 
from  the  time  of  generation.  For  all  this  received  its 
accretion  only  yesterday  and  the  day  before,  as  one 
may  say,  from  the  food  and  the  air  which  is  inspired. 
This,  then,  which  has  received  [the  accretion],  changes, 
not  that  which  thy  mother  brought  forth.  But  sup- 
pose that  this  [which  thy  mother  brought  forth]  im- 
plicates thee  very  much  with  that  other  part,  which 
has  the  peculiar  quality  [of  change],  this  is  nothing  in 
fact  in  the  way  of  objection  to  what  is  said.* 

* The  end  of  this  section  is  perhaps  corrupt.  The  meaning  is 
very  obscure.  I have  given  that  meaning  which  appears  to  be  con- 
sistent with  the  whole  argument.  The  emperor  here  maintains  that  the 
essential  part  of  man  is  unchangeable,  and  that  the  other  parts,  if 
they  change  or  perish,  do  not  affect  that  which  really  constitutes  the 
man.  See  the  Philosophy  of  Antoninus,  p.  50,  note. 


260 


^ THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


8.  "When  thou  hast  assumed  these  names,  good,  mod- 
est, true,  rational,  a man  of  equanimity,  and  magnani- 
mous, take  care  thou  dost  not  change  these  names ; 
and  if  thou  shouldst  lose  them,  quickly  return  to 
them.  And  remember  that  the  term  Rational  was  in- 
tended to  signify  a discriminating  attention  to  every 
several  thing  and  freedom  from  negligence ; and  that 
Equanimity  is  the  voluntary  acceptance  of  the  things 
which  are  assigned  to  thee  by  the  common  nature  ; 
and  that  Magnanimity  is  the  elevation  of  the  intelli- 
gent part  above  the  pleasurable  or  painful  sensations 
of  the  flesh,  and  above  that  poor  thing  called  fame, 
and  death,  and  all  such  things.  If,  then,  thou  main- 
tamest  thyself  in  the  possession  of  these  names,  with- 
out desiring  to  be  called  by  these  names  by  others, 
thou  wilt  be  another  person  and  wilt  enter  on  another 
life.  Eor  to  continue  to  be  such  as  thou  hast  hitherto 
been,  and  to  be  torn  in  pieces  and  defiled  in  such  a 
life,  is  the  character  of  a very  stupid  man  and  one 
overfond  of  his  life,  and  like  those  half-devoured  fight- 
ers with  wild  beasts,  who,  though  covered  with  wounds 
and  gore,  still  intreat  to  be  kept  to  the  following  day, 
though  they  will  be  exposed  in  the  same  state  to  the 
same  claAvs  and  bites.*  Therefore  fix  thyself  in  the 
possession  of  these  few  names : and  if  thou  art  able 
to  abide  in  them,  abide  as  if  thou  wast  removed  to 
certain  islands  of  the  Ilaiipy.:};  But  if  thou  shalt 

* See  Seneca,  Epp.  70,  on  these  exhibitions  which  amused  the 
people  of  those  days.  These  figliters  were  the  Bestlarii,  some  of 
whom  may  have  been  criminals,  but  even  if  they  were,  the  exhibi- 
tion was  equally  characteristic  of  the  depraved  hahits  of  the  spectators. 

I The  islands  of  the  Happy,  or  the  Fortunatse  Insul®,  are  spoken 
of  by  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers.  They  were  the  abode  of 
Heroes,  like  Achilles  and  Diomedes,  as  we  see  in  the  Scolion  of  Har- 


MARCUS  A URELWS  ANTONINUS. 


361 


perceive  that  thou  tallest  out  of  them  and  dost  not 
maintain  thy  hold,  go  courageously  into  some  nook 
where  thou  shalt  maintain  them,  or  even  depart  at 
once  from  life,  not  in  passion,  but  with  simplicity  and 
freedom  and  modesty,  after  doing  this  one  [laudable] 
thing  at  least  in  thy  life,  to  have  gone  out  of  it  thus. 
In  order,  however,  to  the  remembrance  of  these 
names,  it  will  greatly  help  thee,  if  thou  rememberest 
the  gods,  and  that  they  wish  not  to  be  flattered,  but 
wish  all  reasonable  beings  to  be  made  like  themselves  ; 
and  if  thou  rememberest  that  what  does  the  work  of 
a fig-tree  is  a fig-tree,  and  that  what  does  the  work  of 
a dog'  is  a dog,  and  that  what  does  the  work  of  a bee 
is  a bee,  and  that  what  does  the  work  of  a man  is  a 
man. 

9.  Mimi,*  war,  astonishment,  torpor,  slavery,  will  daily 
wipe  out  those  holy  principles  of  thine,  f How  many 
things  without  studying  nature  dost  thou  imagine,  and 
how  many  dost  thou  neglect  ? But  it  is  thy  duty  so  to 

modius  and  Aristogiton.  Sertorius  heard  of  the  islands  at  Cadiz  from 
some  sailors  who  had  been  there,  and  he  had  a wish  to  go  and  live  in 
them  and  rest  from  his  troubles.  (Plutarch,  Sertorius,  c.  8.)  In  the 
Odyssey,  Proteus  told  Menelaus  that  he  should  not  die  in  Argos,  but 
be  removed  to  a place  at  the  boundary  of  the  earth  where  Rhada- 
manthus  dwelt : (Odyssey,  iv.  565.) 

For  there  in  sooth  man’s  life  is  easiest: 

Nor  snow  nor  raging  storm  nor  rain  is  there. 

But  ever  gently  breathing  gales  of  Zephyr 
Oceanus  sends  up  to  gladden  man. 

It  is  certain  that  the  writer  of  the  Odyssey  only  follows  some  old 
legend  without  having  any  knowledge  of  any  place  which  corresponds 
to  his  description.  The  two  islands  which  Sertorius  heard  of  may  be 
Madeira  and  the  adjacent  island.  (Compare  Pindar,  01.  ii.  129.) 

Corals  conjectured  yUldoS  “ hatred  ” in  place  of  Mimi,  Roman 
plays  in  which  action  and  gesticulation  were  all  or  nearly  all. 


2G2 


THE  MEDITATIONS  Off 


look  on  and  so  to  do  everything,  that  at  the  same  time 
the  power  of  dealing  with  circumstances  is  perfected, 
and  the  contemplative  faculty  is  exercised,  and  the 
confidence  which  comes  from  the  knowledge  of  each 
several  thing  is  maintained  without  showing  it,  but 
yet  not  concealed.  For  when  wilt  tliou  enjoy  simplic- 
ity, when  gravity,  and  when  the  knowledge  of  every 
several  thing,  both  what  it  is  in  substance,  and  what 
place  it  has  in  the  universe,  and  how  long  it  is  formed 
to  exist,  and  of  what  things  it  is  compounded,  and  to 
whom  it  can  belong,  and  who  are  able  both  to  give  it 
and  take  it  away  ? 

10.  A spider  is  proud  when  it  has  caught  a fly,  and 
another  when  he  has  caught  a poor  hare,  and  another 
when  he  has  taken  a little  fish  in  a net,  and  another 
when  he  has  taken  wild  boars,  and  another  when  he 
has  taken  bears,  and  another  when  he  has  taken  Sar- 
matians.  Are  not  these  robbers,  if  thou  examinest 
their  opinions  ? * 

11.  Acquire  the  contemplative  way  of  seeing  how 
all  things  change  into  one  another,  and  constantly 
attend  to  it,  and  exercise  thyself  about  this  part  [of 
philosophy].  For  nothing  is  so  much  adapted  to  pro- 
duce magnanimity.  Such  a man  has  put  off  the  body, 
and,  as  he  sees  that  he  must,  no  one  knows  how  soon, 
go  away  from  among  men  and  leave  everything  here,  he 
gives  himself  up  entirely  to  just  doing  in  all  his 
actions,  and  in  everything. else  that  happens  he  resigns 
himself  to  the  universal  nature.  But  as  to  what  any 
man  shall  say  or  think  about  him,  or  do  against  him,  he 

* Marcus  means  to  say  that  conquerors  are  robbers.  He  himself 
warred  against  Sarmatians,  and  was  a robber,  as  he  says,  like  the 
rest.  But  compare  the  life  of  Avidius  Cassius,  c.  4,  by  Vulcatius. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


263 


never  even  thinks  of  it,  being  himself  contented  with 
these  two  things,  with  acting  justly  in  what  he  now 
does,  and  being  satisfied  with  what  is  noAV  assigned  to 
him  ; and  he  lays  aside  all  distracting  and  busy  pur- 
suits, and  desires  nothing  else  than  to  accomplish  the 
straight  course  through  the  law,*  and  by  accomplish- 
insT  the  straight  course  to  folloAV  God. 

12.  What  need  is  there  of  suspicious  fear,  since  it  is 
in  thy  power  to  inquire  what  ought  to  be  done?  And 
if  thou  seest  clear,  go  by  this  Avay  content,  without 
turning  back : but  if  thou  dost  not  see  clear,  stop  and 
take  the  best  advisers.  But  if  any  other  things  oppose 
thee,  go  on  according  to  thy  powers  with  due  consid- 
eration, keeping  to  that  Avhich  appears  to  be  just. 
For  it  is  best  to  reach  this  object,  and  if  thou  dost  fail, 
let  thy  failure  be  in  attempting  this.  He  who  follows 
reason  in  all  things  is  both  tranquil  and  active  at  the 
same  time,  and  also  cheerful  and  collected. 

13.  Inquire  of  thyself  as  soon  as  thou  Avakest  from 
sleep  Avhether  it  Avill  make  any  difference  to  thee,  if 
another  does  what  is  just  and  right.  It  will  make  no 
difference  (au.  32 ; viii.  55). 

Thou  has  not  forgotten,  I suppose,  that  those  who 
assume  arrogant  airs  in  bestowing  their  praise  or 
blame  on  others,  are  such  as  they  are  at  bed  and  at 
board,  and  thou  hast  not  forgotten  Avhat  they  do,  and 
Avhat  they  avoid  and  Avhat  they  pursue,  and  hoAv  they 
steal  and  hoAV  they  rob,  not  Avith  hands  and  feet,  but 
with  their  most  A^aluable  part,  by  means  of  Avhich  there 
is  produced,  when  a man  chooses,  fidelity,  modesty, 
truth,  law,  a good  demon  [happiness]?  (vii.  17.) 

* By  the  law,  he  means  the  divine  law,  obedience  to  the  will  of 
God. 


264 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


14.  To  her  who  gives  and  takes  back  all,  to  nature, 
the  man  who  is  instructed  and  modest  says.  Give  what 
thou  wilt ; take  back  what  thou  wilt.  And  he  says 
this  not  proudly,  but  obediently  and  well  pleased 
with  her. 

15.  Short  is  the  little  which  remains  to  thee  of  life. 
Live  as  on  a mountain.  For  it  makes  no  difference 
whether  a man  lives  there  or  here,  if  he  lives  every- 
where in  the  world  as  in  a state  [political  community]. 
Let  men  see,  let  them  know  a real  man  who  lives 
according  to  nature.  If  they  cannot  endure  him,  let 
them  kill  him.  For  that  is  better  than  to  live  thus  [as 
men  do]. 

16.  No  longer  talk  at  all  about  the  kind  of  man  that 
a good  man  ought  to  be,  but  be  such. 

17.  Constantly  contemplate  the  whole  of  time  and 
the  whole  of  substance,  and  consider  that  all  individual 
things  as  to  substance  are  a grain  of  a fig,  and  as  to 
time,  the  turning  of  a gimlet. 

18.  Look  at  everything  that  exists,  and  observe  that 
it  is  already  in  dissolution  and  in  change,  and  as  it 
were  putrefaction  or  dispersion,  or  that  everything  is 
so  constituted  by  nature  as  to  die. 

19.  Consider  what  men  are  when  they  are  eating, 
sleeping,  generating,  easing  themselves  and  so  forth. 
Then  what  kind  of  men  they  are  when  they  are  im- 
periousf  and  arrogant,  or  angry  and  scolding  from 
their  elevated  place.  But  a short  time  ago  to  how 
many  they  were  slaves  and  for  what  things:  and 
after  a little  time  consider  in  what  a condition  they 
will  be. 

20.  That  is  for  the  good  of  each  thing,  which  the 
universal  nature  brings  to  each.  And  it  is  for  its 
good  at  the  time  when  nature  brings  it. 


MABCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


265 


21.  “ The  earth  loves  the  shower  and  “ the  solemn 
ether  loves and  the  universe  loves  to  make  what- 
ever is  about  to  be.  I say  then  to  the  universe,  that  I 
love  as  thou  lovest.  And  is  not  this  too  said,  that 
“ this  or  that  loves  [is  wont]  to  be  produced.”* 

22.  Either  thou  livest  here  and  hast  already  accus- 
tomed th^^self  to  it,  or  thou  aid  going  awa}^,  and  this 
was  thy  own  will:  or  thou  art  dying  and  hast  dis- 
charged thy  duty.  But  besides  these  things  there  is 
nothing.  Be  of  good  cheer,  then. 

23.  Let  this  alwa}^s  be  plain  to  thee,  that  this  piece 
of  land  is  like  any  other ; and  that  all  things  here  are 
the  same  with  things  on  the  top  of  a mountain,  or  on 
the  sea-shore,  or  wherever  thou  choosest  to  be.  For 
thou  wilt  find  just  what  Plato  says.  Dwelling  within 
the  walls  of  a city  as  in  a shepherd’s  fold  on  a mount- 
ain. [The  three  last  words  are  omitted  in  the  trans- 
lation.]]; 

2-1.  What  is  my  ruling  faculty  now  to  me?  and  of 
what  nature  am  I now  making  it  ? and  for  what  pur- 
pose am  I now  using  it  ? is  it  void  of  understanding  ? 
is  it  loosed  and  rent  asunder  from  social  life?  is  it 
melted  into  and  mixed  with  the  poor  flesh  so  as  to 
move  together  with  it  ? 

* These  words  are  from  Euripides.  They  are  cited  by  Aristotle, 
Ethic.  Nicom.  viii.  1.  It  was  the  fashion  of  the  Stoics  to  work  on 
the  meanings  of  words.  So  Antoninus  here  takes  the  verb  qnXei, 
“loves,”  which  has  also  the  sense  of  “is  wont,”  “uses,”  and  the 
like.  He  finds  in  the  common  language  of  mankind  a philosophical 
truth,  and  most  great  truths  are  expressed  in  the  common  language 
of  life;  some  understand  them,  but  most  people  utter  them,  without 
knowing  how  much  they  mean. 

X Plato,  Thesei.  174  D.  E.  But  compare  the  original  with  the 
use  that  Antoninus  has  made  of  it. 


266 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


25.  He  who  flies  from  his  master  is  a runaway  ; but 
the  law  is  master,  and  he  who  breaks  the  law  is  a run- 
away. And  he  also  who  is  grieved  or  angry  or  afraid,f 
is  dissatisfied  because  something  has  been  or  is  or  shall 
be  of  the  things  which  are  appointed  by  him  who  rules 

, all  things,  and  he  is  Law,  and  assigns  to  every  man 
what  is  fit.  He  then  who  fears  or  is  grieved  or  is 
angry  is  a runaway.* 

26.  A man  deposits  seed  in  a womb  and  goes  away, 
and  then  another  cause  takes  it,  and  labors  on  it  and 
makes  a child.  What  a thing  from  such  a material ! 
Again,  the  child  passes  food  down  through  the  throat, 
and  then  another  cause  takes  it  and  makes  perception 
and  motion,  and  in  fine  life  and  strength  and  other 
things;  how  many  and  how  strange!  Observe  then 
the  things  which  are  produced  in  such  a hidden  way, 
and  see  the  power  just  as  we  see  the  power  which 
carries  things  downward  and  u])ward,  not  with  the 
eyes,  but  still  no  less  plainly  (vii.  75). 

27.  Constantly  consider  how  all  things  such  as  they 
now  are,  in  time  past  also  were ; and  consider  that  they 
will  be  the  same  again.  And  place  before  thy  eyes 
entire  dramas  and  stages  of  the  same  form,  whatever 
thou  hast  learned  from  thy  experience  or  from  older 
history ; for  example,  the  whole  court  of  Hadrianus, 
und  the  whole  court  of  Antoninus,  and  the  whole  court 
of  Philippus,  Alexander,  Croesus ; for  all  those  were 
such  dramas  as  we  see  now,  only  with  different  actors. 

28.  Imagine  every  man  who  is  grieved  at  anything 
or  discontented  to  be  like  a j^ig  which  is  sacrificed  and 
kicks  and  screams. 

* Antoninus  is  here  playing  on  the  etymology  of  vofioi,  law,  as 
signment,  that  which  assigns  (yef^Ei)  to  every  man  his  portion. 


MABCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


267 


Like  this  pig  also  is  he  who  on  his  bed  in  silence 
laments  the  bonds  in’  which  we  are  held.  And  con- 
sider that  only  to  the  rational  animal  is  it  given  to 
follow  voluntarily  what  happens ; but  simply  to  follow 
is  a necessity  imposed  on  all. 

29.  Severally  on  the  occasion  of  everything  that 
thou  doest,  pause  and  ask  thyself,  if  death  is  a dread- 
ful thing  because  it  deprives  thee  of  this. 

30.  When  thou  art  offended  at  any  man’s  fault, 
forthwith  turn  to  thyself  and  reflect  in  what  like  man- 
ner thou  dost  err  thyself ; for  example,  in  thinking 
that  money  is  a good  thing,  or  pleasure,  or  a bit  of 
reputation,  and  the  like.  For  by  attending  to  this 
thou  wilt  quickly  forget  thy  anger,  if  this  considera- 
tion also  is  added,  that  the  man  is  compelled ; for  what 
else  could  he  do  ? or,  if  thou  art  able,  take  away  from 
him  the  compulsion. 

31.  When  thou  hast  seen  Satyron*  the  Socratic,! 
think  of  either,  Eutyches  or  Hymen,  and  when  thou 
hast  seen  Euphrates,  think  of  Eutychion  or  Silvanus, 
and  when  thou  hast  seen  Alciphron  think  of  Tropmo- 
phorus,  and  when  thou  hast  seen  Xenophon  think  of 
Crito:];  or  Severus,  and  when  thou  hast  looked  on  thy- 
self, think  of  any  other  Ceesar,  and  in  the  case  of  every 
one  do  in  like  manner.  Then  let  this  thought  be  in 
thy  mind,  Where  then  are  those  men?  Xowhere,  or 

* Nothing  is  known  of  Satyron  or  Satyrion;  nor,  I believe,  of 
Eutyches  or  Hymen.  Euphrates  is  honorably  mentioned  by  Epictetus 
(iii.  15,  8;  iv.  8,  17).  Pliny  (Epp.  i.  10),  speaks  very  highly  of  him. 
He  obtained  the  permission  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  to  drink  poison, 
because  he  was  old  and  in  bad  health  (Dion  Cassius.  69,  c.  8). 

t Crito  is  the  friend  of  Socrates;  and  he  was,  it  appears,  also  a 
friend  of  Xenophon.  When  the  emperor  says  “seen,”  he  does  not 
mean  with  the  eyes, 


268 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


nobody  knows  where.  For  thus  continuously  thou 
wilt  look  at  human  things  as  smoke  and  nothing  at 
all ; especially  if  thou  reflectest  at  the  same  time  that 
what  has  once  changed  will  never  exist  again  in  the 
infinite  duration  of  time.  But  thou,  in  what  a brief 
space  of  time  is  thy  existence?  And  why  art  thou 
not  content  to  pass  through  this  short  time  in  an 
orderly  way  ? What  matter  and  opportunity  [for  thy 
activity]  art  thou  avoiding?  For  what  else  are  all 
these  things,  except  exercises  for  the  reason,  when  it 
has  viewed  carefully  and  by  examination  into  their 
nature  the  things  which  happen  in  life?  Persevere 
then  until  thou  shalt  have  made  these  things  thy  own, 
as  the  stomach  which  is  strengthened  makes  all  things 
its  own,  as  the  blazing  fire  makes  flame  and  brightness 
out  of  everything  that  is  thrown  into  it. 

32.  Let  it  not  be  in  any  man’s  poAver  to  say  truly  of 
thee  that  thou  art  not  simple,  or  that  thou  art  not 
good;  but  let  him  be  a liar  whoever  shall  think  any- 
thing of  this  kind  about  thee ; and  this  is  altogether  in 
thy  power.  For  who  is  he  that  shall  hinder  thee  from 
being  good  and  simple?  Do  thou  only  determine 
to  live  no  longer,  unless  thou  shalt  be  such.  For 
neither  does  reason  allow  [thee  to  live],  if  thou  art  not 
such.* 

33.  What  is  that  which  as  to  this  material  [our  life] 
can  be  done  or  said  in  the  way  most  conformable  to 
reason.  For  whatever  this  may  be,  it  is  in  thy  poAver 
to  do  it  or  to  say  it,  and  do  not  make  excuses  that  thou 
art  hindered.  Thou  Avilt  not  cease  to  lament  till  thy 
mind  is  in  such  a condition  that,  Avhat  luxury  is  to 
those  Avho  enjoy  pleasure,  such  shall  be  to  thee,  in  the 

* Compare  Epictetus,  i.  39,  28. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


2G9 


matter  which  is  subjected  and  presented  to  thee,  the . 
doin^  of  the  things  which  are  conformable  to  man’s 
constitution  ; for  a man  ought  to  consider  as  an  enjoy- 
ment everything  which  it  is  in  his  power  to  do  accord- 
ing to  his  own  nature.  And  it  is  in  his  power  every- 
where. Now,  it  is  not  given  to  a cylinder  to  move 
everywhere  by  its  own  motion,  nor  yet  to  water  nor  to 
fire,  nor  to  anything  else  which  is  governed  by  nature 
or  an  irrational  soul,  for  the  things  which  check  them 
and  stand  in  the  way  are  many.  But  intelligence  and 
reason  are  able  to  go  through  everything  that  opposes 
them,  and  in  such  manner  as  they  are  formed  by  nature 
and  as  they  choose.  Place  before  thy  eyes  this  facility 
with  which  the  reason  will  be  carried  through  all 
things,  as  fire  upward,  as  a stone  downward,  as  a cyl- 
inder doAvn  an  inclined  surface,  and  seek  for  nothing 
further.  For  all  other  obstacles  either  affect  the  body 
only  which  is  a dead  thing ; or,  except  through  opinion 
and  the  yielding  of  the  reason  itself,  they  do  not  crush 
nor  do  any  harm  of  any  kind ; for  if  they  did,  he  who 
felt  it  would  immediately  become  bad.  Now,  in  the 
case  of  all  things  which  have  a certain  constitution, 
whatever  harm  may  happen  to  any  of  them,  that 
which  is  so  affected  becomes  consquently  worse ; but 
in  the  like  case,  a man  becomes  both  better,  if  one  may 
say  so,  and  more  worthy  of  praise  by  making  a right 
use  of  these  accidents.  And  finally  remember  that 
nothing  harms  him  who  is  realh'^  a citizen,  which  does 
not  harm  the  state ; nor  yet  does  anything  harm  the 
state  which  does  not  harm  law  [order] ; and  of  these 
things  which  are  called  misfortunes  not  one  harms  law. 
What  then  does  not  harm  law  does  not  harm  either 
state  or  citizen. 


270 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


34.  To  him  who  is  penetrated  by  true  principles  even 
the  briefest  precept  is  suflficient,  and  any  common  pre- 
cept, to  remind  him  that  he  should  be  free  from  grief 
and  fear.  For  example ; 

Leaves,  some  the  wind  scatters  on  the  ground — 

So  is  the  race  of  men.* *  • 

Leaves,  also,  are  thy  children  ; and  leaves,  too,  are  they 
who  cry  out  as  if  they  were  worthy  of  credit  and 
bestow  their  praise,  or  on  the  contrary  curse,  or 
secretly  blame  and  sneer ; and  leaves,  in  like  manner, 
are  tliose  who  shall  receive  and  transmit  a man’s  fame 
to  after-times.  For  all  such  things  as  these  “are  pro- 
duced in  the  season  of  spring,”  as  the  poet  says  ; then 
the  wind  casts  them  down;  then  the  forest  produces 
othei"  leaves  in  their  places.  But  a brief  existence  is 
common  to  all  things,  and  yet  thou  avoidest  and  pur- 
suest  all  things  as  if  they  would  be  eternal.  A little 
time,  and  thou  shalt  close  thy  eyes;  and  him  who 
has  attended  thee  to  thy  grave  another  soon  will 
lament. 

35.  The  healthy  eye  ought  to  see  all  visible  things 
and  not  to  say,  I wish  for  green  things ; for  this  is  the 
condition  of  a diseased  eye.  And  the  healthy  hearing 
and  smelling  ought  to  be  ready  to  perceive  all  that 
can  be  heard  and  smelled.  And  the  healthy  stomach 
ought  to  be  with  respect  to  all  food  just  as  the  mill 
with  respect  to  all  things  which  it  is  formed  to  grind. 
And  accordingly  the  healthy  understanding  ought  to 
be  prepared  for  everything  which  happens ; but  that 
which  says.  Let  my  dear  children  live,  and  let  all  men 
praise  whatever  I may  do,  is  an  eye  which  seeks  for 

green  things,  or  teeth  which  seek  for  soft  things. 


* Homer,  II.  vi.  146. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


sri 


36.  There  is  no  man  so  fortunate  that  there  shall 
not  be  by  him  when  he  is  dying  some  who  are  pleased 
with  what  is  going  to  happen.*  Suppose  that  he  was 
a good  and  wise  man,  will  there  not  be  at  last  some 
one  to  say  to  himself,  Let  us  at  last  breathe  freely 
being  relieved  from  this  school-master  ? It  is  true  that 
he  was  harsh  to  none  of  us,  but  I perceived  that  he 
tacitly  condemns  us.  This  is  what  is  said  of  a good 
man.  But  in  our  own  case  how  many  other  things 
are  there  for  which  there  are  many  who  wish  to  get 
rid  of  us.  Thou  wilt  consider  this  then  when  thou 
art  dying,  and  thou  wilt  depart  more  contentedly  by 
reflecting  thus : I am  going  away  from  such  a life,  in 
which  even  my  associates  in  behalf  of  whom  1 have 
striven  so  much,  prayed,  and  cared,  themselves  wish 
me  to  depart,  hoping  perchance  to  get  some  little 
advantage  by  it.  Why  then  should  a man  cling  to  a 
longer  stay  here  ? Do  not,  however,  for  this  reason  go 
awa}^  less  kindly  disposed  to  them,  but  preserving  thy 
own  character,  and  friendly  and  benevolent  and  mild, 
and  on  the  other  hand  not  as  if  thou  wast  torn  away ; 
but  as  when  a man  dies  a quiet  death,  the  poor  soul  is 
easily  separated  from  the  body,  such  also  ought  thy 
departure  from  men  to  be,  for  nature  united  thee  to 
them  and  associated  thee.  But  does  she  now  dissolve 
the  union  ? W ell,  I am  separated  as  from  kinsmen,  not 
however  dragged  resisting,  but  without  compulsion ; 
for  this  too  is  one  of  the  things  according  to  nature. 

37.  Accustom  thyself  as  much  as  possible  on  the 
occasion  of  anything  being  done  by  any  person  to 

* He  says  uaxov  but  as  be  affirms  in  other  places  that  death  is 
no  evil,  he  must  mean  what  others  may  call  an  evil,  and  he  means 
only  “what  is  going  to  happen.” 


272  tee  meditations  OF 

inquire  with  thyself,  For  what  object  is  this  man 
doing  this?  but  begin  with  thyself,  and  examine 
tln^self  first. 

38.  Remember  that  this  which  pulls  the  strings  is 
the  thing  which  is  hidden  within ; this  is  the  power 
of  persuasion,  this  is  life ; this,  if  one  may  so  say,  is  man. 
In  contemplating  thyself  never  include  the  vessel 
which  surrounds  thee,  and  these  instruments  which  are 
attached  about  it.  For  they  are  like  to  an  ax,  differing 
only  in  this  that  they  groAv  to  the  body.  For  indeed 
there  is  no  more  use  in  these  parts  without  the  cause 
which  moves  and  checks  them  than  in  the  weaver’s 
shuttle,  and  the  writer’s  pen,  and  the  driver’s  whip.* 

* See  “ The  Philosophy  of  Antoninus,”  n.  13. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  AMTONINUS. 


273 


XI. 

These  are  the  properties  of  the  rational  soul : it  sees 
itself,  analyzes  itself,  and  makes  itself  such  as  it 
chooses ; the  fruit  which  it  bears  itself  enjoys — for  the 
fruits  of  plants  and  that  in  animals  which  corresponds 
to  fruits  others  enjoy — it  obtains  its  own  end,  wherever 
the  limit  of  life  may  be  fixed.  Not  as  in  a dance  and 
in  a play  and  in  such  like  things,  where  the  whole 
action  is  incomplete,  if  anything  cuts  it  short ; but  in 
every  part  and  wherever  it  may  be  stopped,  it  makes 
what  has  been  set  before  it  full  and  complete,  so  that 
it  can  say,  I have  what  is  my  own.  And  further  it 
traverses  the  whole  universe,  and  the  surrounding 
vacuum,  and  surveys  its  form,  and  it  extends  itself  into 
the  infinity  of  time,  and  embraces  and  comprehends 
the  * periodical  renovation  of  all  things,  and  it  com- 
prehends that  those  who  come  after  us  will  see  nothing 
new,  nor  have  those  before  us  seen  anything  more,  but 
in  a manner  he  who  is  forty  years  old,  if  he  has  any 
understanding  at  all,  has  seen  by  virtue  of  the  uni- 
formity that  prevails  all  things  which  have  been  and 
all  that  will  be.  This,  too,  is  a property  of  the 
rational  soul,  love  of  oner’s  neighbor,  and  truth  and 
modesty,  and  to  value  nothing  more  than  itself,  Avhich 
is  also  the  property  of  Law.:};  Thus,  then,  right  reason 
differs  not  at  all  from  the  reason  of  justice. 


See  V.  13,  32  ; x.  7. 

\ Law  is  the  order  by  which  all  things  are  governed. 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OP 


2.  Thou  wilt  set  little  value  on  pleasing  song  and 
dancing  and  the  pancratium,  if  thou  wilt  distribute  the 
melody  of  the  voice  into  its  several  sounds,  and  ask 
thyself  as  to  each,  if  thou  art  mastered  by  this ; for 
thou  wilt  be  prevented  by  shame  from  confessing  it : 
and  in  the  matter  of  dancing,  if  at  each  movement 
and  attitude  thou  wilt  do  the  same  ; and  the  like  also 
in  the  matter  of  the  pancratium.  In  all  things,  then, 
except  virtue  and  the  acts  of  virtue,  remember  to  apply 
thyself  to  their  several  parts,  and  by  this  division  to 
come  to  value  them  little : and  apply  this  rule  also  to 
thy  whole  life. 

3.  What  a soul  that  is  which  is  ready,  if  at  any 
moment  it  must  be  separated  from  the  body,  and 
ready  either  to  be  extinguished  or  dispersed  or  con- 
tinue to  exist ; but  so  that  this  readiness  comes  from  a 
man’s  own  judgment,  not  from  mere  obstinacy,  as  with 
the  Christians,*  but  considerately  and  with  dignity 
and  in  a way  to  persuade  another,  without  tragic 
show. 

4.  Have  I done  something  for  the  general  interest  ? 
Well  then  I have  had  my  reward.  Let  this  always 
be  present  to  thy  mind,  and  never  stop  [doing  such 
good]. 

5.  What  is  thy  art  ? To  be  good.  And  how  is  this 
accomplished  well  except  by  general  principles,  some 
about  the  nature  of  the  universe,  and  others  about  the 
proper  constitution  of  man  ? 

6.  At  first  tragedies  were  brought  on  the  stage  as 
means  of  reminding  men  of  the  things  which  happen 

* See  the  Life  of  Antoninus.  This  is  the  only  passage  in  which 
the  emperor  speaks  of  the  Christians.  Epictetus  (iv.  7,  6)  names  them 
Galitei. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


m 


to  them,  and  that  it  is  according  to  nature  for  things 
to  happen  so,  and  that,  if  you  are  delighted  with  what 
is  shown  on  the  stage,  you  should  not  be  troubled  with 
that  which  takes  place  on  the  larger  stage.  For  you 
see  that  these  things  must  be  accomplished  thus,  and 
that  even  they  bear  them  who  cry  out,*  “ O Cithaeron.” 
And,  indeed,  some  things  are  said  well  by  the 
dramatic  writers,  of  which  kind  is  the  following 
especially : 

Me  and  my  children  if  the  gods  neglect, 

This  has  its  reason  too4 

And  again — 

We  must  not  chafe  and  fret  at  that  which  happens. 

And— 

Life’s  harvest  reap  like  the  wheat’s  fruitful  ear. 

And  other  things  of  the  same  kind. 

After  tragedy  the  old  comedy  was  introduced,  which 
had  a magisterial  freedom  of  speech,  and  by  its  very 
plainness  of  speaking  was  useful  in  reminding  men  to 
beware  of  insolence  ; and  for  this  purpose  too  Diogenes 
used  to  take  from  these  writers. 

But  as  to  the  middle  comedy  which  came  next, 
observe  what  it  was,  and  again,  for  what  object  the 
new  comedy  was  introduced,  which  gradually  sunk 
down  into  a mere  mimic  artifice.  That  some  good 
things  are  said  even  by  these  writers,  everybody 
knows:  but  the  whole  plan  of  such  poetry  and 
dramaturgy,  to  what  end  does  it  look  ! 

7.  How  plain  does  it  appear  that  there  is  not  an- 


* Sopkocles,  CEdipus  Eex. 
I See  vii.  41,  38,  40. 


21G 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


other  condition  of  life  so  well  suited  for  philosophiz- 
ing as  this  in  which  thou  now  happenest  to  be. 

8.  A branch  cut  off  from  the  adjacent  branch  must 
of  necessity  be  cut  off  from  the  whole  tree  also.  So 
too  a man  when  he  is  separated  from  another  man  has 
fallen  oif  from  the  whole  social  community.  Now  as 
to  a branch,  another  cuts  it  off,  but  a man  by  his  own 
act  separates  himself  from  his  neighbor  when  he 
hates  him  and  turns  away  from  him,  and  he  does  not 
know  that  he  has  at  the  same  time  cut  himself  off 
from  the  whole  social  system.  Y et  he  has  this  priv- 
ilege certainly  from  Zeus  who  framed  society,  for  it  is 
in  our  power  to  grow  again  to  that  which  is  near  to 
us,  and  again  to  become  a part  which  helps  to  make 
up  the  whole.  However,  if  it  often  happens,  this  kind 
of  separation,  it  makes  it  difficult  for  that  which 
detaches  itself  to  be  brought  to  unity  and  to  be  re- 
stored to  its  former  condition.  Finally,  the  branch, 
which  from  the  first  grew  together  with  the  tree,  and 
has  continued  to  have  one  life  with  it,  is  not  like  that 
which  after  being  cut  off  is  then  ingrafted,  for  this  is 
something  like  what  the  gardeners  mean  when  they 
say  that  it  grows  with  the  rest  of  the  tree,  butf  that 
it  has  not  the  same  mind  with  it. 

9.  As  those  who  try  to  stand  in  thy  way  when  thou 
art  proceeding  according  to  right  reason,  will  not  be 
able  to  turn  thee  aside  from  th}'^  proper  action,  so 
neither  let  them  drive  thee  from  thy  benevolent  feel- 
ings toward  them,  but  be  on  thy  guard  equally  in 
both  matters,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  steady  judg- 
ment and  action,  but  also  in  the  matter  of  gentleness 
toward  tliose  who  try  to  hinder  or  otherwise  trouble 
thee.  For  this  also  is  a weakness,  to  be  vexed  at 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


27? 


them,  as  well  as  to  be  diverted  from  thy  course  of 
action  and  to  ^ive  way  through  fear ; for  both  are 
equally  deserters  from  their  post,  the  man  who  does  it 
through  fear,  and  the  man  who  is  alienated  from  him 
who  is  by  nature  a kinsman  and  a friend. 

10.  There  is  no  nature  which  is  inferior  to  art,  for 
the  arts  imitate  the  natures  of  things.  But  if  this  is 
so,  that  nature  which  is  the  most  perfect  and  the  most 
comprehensive  of  all  natures,  cannot  fall  short  of  the 
skill  of  art.  Now  all  arts  do  the  inferior  things  for 
the  sake  of  the  superior ; therefore  the  universal 
nature  does  so  too.  And,  indeed,  hence  is  the  origin 
of  justice,  and  in  justice  the  other  virtues  have  their 
foundation : for  justice  will . not  be  observed,  if  we 
either  care  for  middle  things  [things  in  different],  or 
are  easily  deceived  and  careless  and  chanffeable  (v.  16, 
30 ; vii.  55). 

11.  If  the  things  do  not  come  to  thee,  the  pursuits 
and  avoidances  of  which  disturb  thee,  still  in  a manner 
thou  goest  to  them.  Let  then  thy  judgment  about 
them  be  at  rest,  and  they  will  remain  quiet,  and  thou 
wilt  not  be  seen  either  pursuing  or  avoiding. 

12.  The  spherical  form  of  the  soul  maintains  its 
figure,  when  it  is  neither  extended  toward  any  object, 
nor  contracted  inward,  nor  dispersed  nor  sinks  down, 
but  is  illuminated  by  light,  by  which  it  sees  the  truth, 
the  truth  of  all  things  and  the  truth  that  is  in  itself 
(viii.  41,  45  ; xii.  3). 

13.  Suppose  any  man  shall  despise  me.  Let  him 
look  to  that  himself.  But  I will  look  to  this,  that  I be 
not  discovered  doing  or  saying  anything  deserving  of 
contempt.  Shall  any  man  hate  me?  Let  him  look  to 
it.  But  I will  be  mild  and  benevolent  toward  every 


THE  MEElTA'llONS  OF 


01*^0 
*v  I O 

man,  and  ready  to  show  even  him  his  mistake,  not  re- 
proachfully, nor  yet  as  making  a display  of  my  endur- 
ance, but  nobly  and  honestly,  like  the  great  Phocion, 
unless  indeed  he  only  assumed  it.  For  the  interior 
[parts]  ought  to  be  such,  and  a man  ought  to  be  seen 
by  the  gods  neither  dissatisfied  with  anything  nor 
complaining.  For  what  evil  is  it  to  thee,  if  thou  art 
now  doing  what  is  agreeable  to  thy  own  nature,  and 
art  satisfied  with  that  which  at  this  moment  is  suitable 
to  the  nature  of  the  universe,  since  thou  art  a human 
being  placed  at  thy  post  in  order  that  what  is  for  the 
common  advantage  may  be  done  in  some  way  ? 

14.  Men  despise  one  another  and  flatter  one  another ; 
and  men  wish  to  raise  themselves  above  one  another, 
and  crouch  before  one  another. 

15.  How  unsound  and  insincere  is  he  who  says,  I 
have  determined  to  deal  with  thee  in  a fair  way. 
What  art  thou  doing,  man?  There  is  no  occasion  to 
give  this  notice.  It  will  soon  show  itself  by  acts. 
The  voice  ought  to  be  plainly  written  on  the  forehead. 
Such  as  a man’s  character  is,f  he  immediately  shows 
it  in  his  eyes,  just  as  he  who  is  beloved  forthwith 
reads  everything  in  the  eyes  of  lovers.  The  man  who 
is  honest  and  good  ought  to  be  exactly  like  a man  who 
smells  strong,  so  that  the  bystander  as  soon  as  he 
comes  near  him  must  smell  whether  he  choose  or  not. 
But  the  affectation  of  simplicity  is  like  a crooked  stick.* 
Nothing  is  more  disgraceful  than  a wolfish  friendship 
[false  friendship].  Avoid  this  most  of  all.  The  good 


* There  is  a Greek  proverb,  “ You  cannot  make  a crooked  stick 
straight.”  The  wolfish  friendship  is  an  illusion  to  the  fable  of  the 
sheep  and  the  wolves. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


279 


and  simple  and  benevolent  show  all  these  things  in  the 
eyes,  and  there  is  no  mistaking. 

16.  As  to  living  in  the  best  way,  this  power  is  in  the 
soul,  if  it  be  indifferent  to  things  which  are  indifferent. 
And  it  will  be  indifferent,  if  it  looks  on  each  of  these 
things  separately  and  all  together,  and  if  it  remembers 
that  not  one  of  them  produces  in  us  an  opinion  about 
itself,  nor  comes  to  us ; but  these  things  remain  im- 
movable, and  it  is  we  ourselves  who  produce  the  judg- 
ments about  them,  and,  as  we  may  say,  write  them  in 
ourselves,  it  being  in  our  power  not  to  write  them,  and 
it  being  in  our  power,  if  perchance  these  judgments 
have  imperceptibly  got  admission  to  our  minds,  to 
wipe  them  out ; and  if  we  remember  also  that  such 
attention  will  only  be  for  a short  time,  and  then  life 
will  be  at  an  end.  Besides,  what  trouble  is  there  at 
all  in  doing  this  ? For  if  these  things  are  according  to 
nature,  rejoice  in  them,  and  they  will  be  easy  to  thee ; 
but  if  contrary  to  nature,  seek  what  is  conformable  to 
thy  own  nature,  and  strive  tow^ard  this,  even  if  it  bring 
no  reputation ; for  every  man  is  allowed  to  seek  his 
own  good. 

17.  Consider  whence  each  thing  is  come,  and  of 
what  it  consists,t  and  into  what  it  changes,  and  what 
kind  of  a thing  it  will  be  when  it  has  changed,  and 
that  it  will  sustain  no  harm. 

18.  [If  any  have  offended  against  thee,  consider 

first] : What  is  my  relation  to  men,  and  that  we  are 

made  for  one  another ; and  in  another  respect,  I was 
made  to  be  set  over  them,  as  a ram  over  the  flock  or  a 
bull  over  the  herd.  But  examine  the  matter  from  first 
principles,  from  this : If  all  things  are  not  mere  atoms, 
it  is  nature  which  orders  all  things ; if  this  is  so,  the 


280 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


inferior  things  exist  for  the  sake  of  the  superior,  and 
these  for  the  sake  of  one  another  (ii.  1 ; ix.  39  ; v.  16  ; 
iii.  4:). 

Second,  consider  what  kind  of  men  they  are  at  table, 
in  bed,  and  so  forth  ; and  particularly,  under  what 
compulsions  in  respect  of  opinions  they  are  ; and  as  to 
their  acts,  consider  with  what  pride  they  do  what  they 
do  (viii.  14  ; ix.  34). 

Third,  that  if  men  do  rightly  what  they  do,  we 
ought  not  to  be  displeased ; but  if  they  do  not  right, 
it  is  plain  that  they  do  so  involuntarily  and  in  igno- 
rance. For  as  every  soul  is  unwillingly  deprived  of  the 
truth,  so  also  is  it  unwillingly  deprived  of  the  power  of 
behaving  to  each  man  according  to  his  deserts.  Ac- 
cordingly men  are  pained  when  they  are  called  unjust, 
ungrateful,  and  greedy,  and  in  a word  wrong-doers  to 
their  neighbors  (vii.  62,  63  ; ii.  1 ; vii.  26  ; viii.  29). 

Fourth,  consider  that  thou  also  doest  many  things 
wrong,  and  that  thou  art  a man  like  others ; and  even 
if  thou  dost  abstain  from  certain  faults,  still  thou  hast 
the  disposition  to  commit  them,  though  either  through 
cowardice,  or  concern  about  reputation  or  some  such 
mean  motive,  thou  dost  abstain  from  such  faults  (i.  17). 

Fifth,  consider  that  thou  dost  not  even  understand 
whether  men  are  doing  wrong  or  not,  for  many  things 
are  done  with  a certain  reference  to  circumstances. 
And,  in  short,  a man  must  learn  a great  deal  to  enable 
him  to  pass  a correct  judgment  on  another  man’s  acts 
(ix.  38  ; iv.  51). 

Sixth,  consider  when  thou  art  much  vexed  or 
grieved,  that  man’s  life  is  only  a moment,  and,  after  a 
short  time,  we  are  all  laid  out  dead  (vii.  58  ; iv.  48). 

Seventh,  that  it  is  not  men’s  acts  which  disturb  us, 


MARCUS  A URELIU8  ANTONINUS. 


281 


for  those  acts  have  their  foundation  in  men’s  ruling 
principles,  hut  it  is  our  own  opinions  which  disturb  us. 
Take  away  these  opinions  then,  and  resolve  to  dismiss 
thy  judgment  about  an  act  as  if  it  were  something 
grievous,  and  thy  anger  is  gone.  How,  then,  shall  I 
take  away  these  opinions  ? By  reflecting  that  no 
wrongful  act  of  another  brings  shame  on  thee  : for 
unless  that  which  is  shameful  is  alone  bad,  thou  also 
must  of  necessity  do  many  things  wrong,  and  become 
a robber  and  everything  else  (v.  25  ; vii.  16). 

Eighth,  consider  how  much  more  pain  is  brought  on 
us  h}^  the  anger  and  vexation  caused  by  such  acts  than 
by  the  acts  themselves,  at  which  we  are  angry  and 
vexed  (iv.  39,  49  ; vii.  24). 

Ninth,  consider  that  a good  disposition  is  invincible, 
if  it  be  genuine,  and  not  an  affected  smile  and  acting 
a part.  For  what  Avill  the  most  violent  man  do  to 
thee,  if  thou  continuest  to  be  of  a kind  disposition 
toward  him,  and  if,  as  opportunity  offers,  thou  gently 
admonishest  him  and  calmly  correctest  his  errors  at 
the  very  time  when  he  is  trying  to  do  thee  harm, 
saying.  Not  so,  my  child  ; we  are  constituted  by  nature 
for  something  else : I shall  certainly  not  be  injured, 
hut  thou  art  injuring  thyself,  my  child.  And  show 
him  with  gentle  tact  and  by  general  principles  that 
this  is  so,  and  that  even  bees  do  not  do  as  he  does,  nor 
any  animals  which  are  formed  by  nature  to  be  gregari- 
ous. And  thou  must  do  this  neither  with  any  double 
meaning  nor  in  the  Ava}’’  of  reproach,  but  affectionately 
and  without  any  rancour  in  thy  soul ; and  not  as  if 
thou  wert  lecturing  him,  nor  yet  that  any  bystander 
may  admire,  but  either  when  he  is  alone,  and  if  others 
are  present  . . 

* It  appears  that  there  is  a defect  in  the  text  here. 


282 


TEE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


Eemember  these  nine  rules,  as  if  thou  hadst  received 
them  as  a gift  from  the  Muses,  and  begin  at  last  to  be 
a man  while  thou  livest.  But  thou  must  equally  avoid 
flattering  men  and  being  vexed  at  them,  for  both  are 
unsocial  and  lead  to  harm.  And  let  this  truth  be 
present  to  thee  in  the  excitement  of  anger,  that  to  be 
moved  by  passion  is  not  manly,  but  that  mildness  and 
gentleness,  as  they  are  more  agreeable  to  human 
nature,  so  also  are  they  more  manly ; and  he  who 
possesses  these  qualities  possesses  strength,  nerves  and 
courage,  and  not  the  man  who  is  subject  to  fits  of 
passion  and  discontent.  For  in  the  same  degree  in 
which  a man’s  mind  is  nearer  to  freedom  from  aU 
passion,  in  the  same  degree  also  is  it  nearer  to  strength : 
and  as  tlie  sense  of  pain  is  a characteristic  of  weak- 
ness, so  also  is  anger.  For  he  who  yields  to  pain  and 
he  wlio  yields  to  anger,  both  are  wounded  and  both 
submit. 

But  if  thou  wilt,  receive  also  a tenth  present  from  the 
leader  of  the  [Muses  Apollo],  and  it  is  this — that  to 
expect  bad  men  not  to  do  wrong  is  madness,  for  he 
Avho  expects  this  desires  an  impossibility.  But  to 
allow  men  to  behave  so  to  others,  and  to  expect 
them  not  to  do  thee  any  wrong,  is  irrational  and 
tyrannical. 

19.  There  are  four  principal  aberrations  of  the 
superior  faculty  against  which  thou  shouldst  be  con- 
stantly on  thy  guard,  and  when  thou  hast  detected  them, 
thou  shouldst  wipe  them  out  and  say  on  each  occasion 
thus : this  thought  is  not  necessary  : this  tends  to 
destroy  social  union  : this  which  thou  art  going  to  say 
comes  not  from  the  real  thoughts  ; for  thou  shouldst 
consider  it  among  the  most  absurd  of  things  for  a man 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


283 


not  to  speak  from  his  real  thoughts.  But  the  fourth  is 
when  thou  shalt  reproach  thyself  for  anything,  for  this 
is  an  evidence  of  the  diviner  part  within  thee  being 
overpowered  and  yielding  to  the  less  honourable  and  to 
the  perishable  part,  the  body,  and  to  its  gross  pleasures 
(iv.  24  ; ii.  16). 

20.  Thy  aerial  part  and  all  the  fiery  parts  which  are 
mingled  in  thee,  though  by  nature  they  have  an  upward 
tendency,  still  in  obedience  to  the  disposition  of  the 
universe  they  are  overpowered  here  in  the  compound 
mass  [the  body].  And  also  the  whole  of  the  earthly 
part  in  thee  and  the  watery,  though  their  tendency  is 
downward,  still  are  raised  up  and  occupy  a position 
which  is  not  their  natural  one.  In  this  manner  then 
the  elemental  parts  obey  the  universal,  for  when  they 
have  been  fixed  in  any  place  perforce  they  remain  there 
until  again  the  universal  shall  sound  the  signal  for 
dissolution.  Is  it  not  then  strange  that  thy  intelligent 
part  only  should  be  disobedient  and  discontented  with 
its  own  place  ? And  yet  no  force  is  imposed  on  it,  but 
only  those  things  which  are  comformable  to  its  nature  : 
still  it  does  not  submit,  but  is  carried  in  the  opposite 
direction.  For  the  movement  towards  injustice  and 
intemperance  and  to  anger  and  grief  and  fear  is  nothing 
else  than  the  act  of  one  who  deviates  from  nature. 
And  also  when  the  ruling  faculty  is  discontented  with 
anything  that  happens,  then  toojt  deserts  its  post : for 
it  is  constituted  for  piety  and  reverence  toward  the 
gods  no  less  than  for  justice.  For  these  quahties  also 
are  comprehended  under  the  generic  term  of  content- 
ment with  the  constitution  of  things,  and  indeed  they 
.are  prior*  to  acts  of  justice.  ... 

*Tlie  word  "wliich  is  here  translated  " prior,”  may  algg  mean 


284 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


21.  He  who  has  not  one  and  always  the  same  object 
in  life,  cannot  be  one  and  the  same  all  through  his  life. 
But  what  I have  said  is  not  enough,  unless  this  also  is 
added,  what  this  object  ought  to  be.  For  as  there  is 
not  the  same  opinion  about  all  the  things  which  in  some 
way  or  other  are  considered  by  the  majority  to  be  good, 
but  only  about  some  certain  things,  that  is,  things  which 
concern  the  common  interest ; so  also  ought  we  to 
propose  to  ourselves  an  object  which  shall  be  of  a 
common  kind  [social]  and  political.  For  he  who  directs 
all  his  own  efforts  to  this  object,  will  make  all  his  acts 
alike,  and  thus  will  always  be  the  same. 

22.  Think  of  the  country  mouse  and  of  the  town 
mouse,  and  of  the  alarm  and  trepidation  of  the  town 
mouse.* 

23.  Socrates  used  to  call  the  opinions  of  the  many 
by  the  name  of  Lamiae,  bugbears  to  frighten  children. 


“ superior  but  Antoninus  seems  to  say  that  piety  and  reverence 
of  the  gods  precede  all  virtues,  and  that  other  virtues  are  derived  from 
them,  even  justice,  which  in  another  passage  (xi.  10)  he  makes  the 
foundation  of  all  virtues.  The  ancient  notion  of  justice  is  that  of  giving 
to  every  one  his  due.  It  is  not  a legal  definition,  as  some  have  sup- 
posed, hut  a moral  rule  which  law  cannot  in  all  cases  enforce. 
Besides  law  has  its  own  rules,  which  are  sometimes  moral  and  some- 
times immoral ; but  it  enforces  them  all  simply  because  they  are 
general  rules,  and  if  it  did  not  or  could  not  enforce  them,  so  far  Law 
would  not  be  Law.  Justice,  or  the  doing  what  is  just,  implies  a 
universal  rule  and  obedience  to  it ; and  as  we  all  live  under  universal 
Law,  which  commands  both  our  body  and  our  intelligence,  and  is  the 
law  of  our  nature,  that  is  the  law  of  the  whole  constitution  of  man, 
we  must  endeavor  to  discover  what  this  supreme  Law  is.  It  is  the 
will  of  the  power  that  rules  all . By  acting  in  obedience  to  this  will, 
we  do  justice,  and  by  consequence  everything  else  that  we  ought  to 
do. 

* The  story  is  told  by  Horace  ip  hie  Satires  (ii.  6),  and  by  others 
sin'cs,  but  not  better. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


285 


24.  The  Lacedaemonians  at  their  public  spectacles 
used  to  set  seats  in  the  shade  for  strangers,  but  them- 
selves sat  down  anywhere. 

25.  Socrates  excused  himself  to  Perdiccas  * for  not 
going  to  him,  saying.  It  is  because  I would  not  perish 
b}'^  the  worst  of  all  ends,  that  is,  I would  not  receive  a 
favor  and  then  be  unable  to  return  it. 

26.  In  the  writings  of  the  [Ephesians]  there  was  this 
precept,  constantly  to  think  of  some  one  of  the  men  of 
former  times  who  practiced  virtue. 

27.  The  Pythagoreans  bid  us  in  the  morning  look 
to  the  heavens  that  we  may  be  reminded  of  those 
bodies  which  continually  do  the  same  things  and  in 
the  same  manner  perform  their  work,  and  also  be  re- 
minded of  their  purity  and  nudity.  For  there  is  no 
veil  over  a star. 

28.  Consider  what  a man  Socrates  was  when  he 
dressed  himself  in  a skin,  after  Xanthippe  had  taken 
his  cloak  and  gone  out,  and  Avhat  Socrates  said  to  his 
friends  who  were  ashamed  of  him  and  drew  back  from 
him  when  they  saw  him  dressed  thus. 

29.  Neither  in  writing  nor  in  reading  wilt  thou  be 
able  to  lay  down  rules  for  others  before  thou  shalt 
have  first  learned  to  obey  rules  thyself.  Much  more 
is  this  so  in  life. 

30.  A slave  thou  art ; free  speech  is  not  for  thee. 

31.  And  my  heart  laughed  within  (Od.  ix.  413). 

32.  And  virtue  they  will  curse  speaking  harsh  woi’ds 
(Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  184). 

33.  To  look  for  the  fig  in  winter  is  a madman’s  act : 

* Perhaps  the  emperor  made  a mistake  here,  for  other  writers  say 
that  it  was  Archelaus,  the  son  of  Perdiccas,  wlro  invited  Socrates  to 
Macedonia. 


286 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


such  is  he  who  looks  for  his  child  when  it  is  no  longer 
allowed  (Epictetus,  hi.  2d,  87). 

34.  When  a man  kisses  his  child,  said  Epictetus,  he 
should  whisper  to  himself,  “To-morrow  perchance 
thou  wilt  die.”  But  those  are  words  of  bad  omen. 
“No  word  is  a wo"d  of  bad  omen,”  said  Epictetus, 
“ which  expresses  any  work  of  nature;  or  if  it  is  so,  it 
is  also  a word  of  bad  omen  to  speak  of  the  ears  of 
corn  being  reaped  ” (Epictetus,  iii.  24,  88). 

35.  The  unripe  grape,  the  ripe  bunch,  the  dried  grape 
all  are  changes,  not  into  notliing,  but  into  something 
which  exists  not  yet  (Epictetus,  iii.  24). 

36.  No  man  can  rob  us  of  our  free  will  (Epictetus, 
iii.  22,  105). 

37.  Epictetus  also  said,  a man  must  discover  an  art 
[or  rules]  with  respect  to  giving  his  assent ; and  in 
respect  to  his  movements  he  must  be  careful  that  they 
be  made  with  regard  to  circumstances,  that  they  be 
consistent  with  social  interests,  that  they  have  regard 
to  the  value  of  the  object ; and  as  to  sensual  desire, 
he  should  altogether  keep  away  from  it;  and  as  to 
avoidance  [aversion]  he  should  not  show  it  with 
respect  to  any  of  the  things  which  are  not  in  our 
power. 

38.  The  dispute  then,  he  said,  is  not  about  any  com- 
mon matter,  but  about  being  mad  or  not. 

39.  Socrates  used  to  say.  What  do  you  want  ? 
Souls  of  rational  men  or  irrational  ? Souls  of  rational 
men.  Of  what  rational  men?  Sound  or  unsound? 
Sound.  W hy  then  do  you  not  seek  for  them  ? Be- 
cause we  have  them.  Why  then  do  you  fight  and 
quarrel  ? 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  AETONINUS. 


287 


XII. 

All  those  things  at  which  thou  wishest  to  arrive  by 
a circuitous  road,  thou  canst  have  now,  if  thou  dost  not 
refuse  them  to  thyself.  And  this  means,  if  thou  wilt 
take  no  notice  of  all  the  past,  and  trust  the  future  to 
providence,  and  direct  the  present  only  conformably  to 
piety  and  justice.  Conformably  to  piety,  that  thou 
ma3mst  be  content  with  the  lot  which  is  assigned  to 
thee,  for  nature  designed  it  for  thee  and  thee  for  it. 
Conformably  to  justice,  that  thou  majmst  always 
speak  the  truth  freely  and  without  disguise,  and  do 
the  things  which  are  agreeable  to  law  and  according 
to  the  worth  of  each.  And  let  neither  another  man’s 
wickedness  hinder  thee,  nor  opinion  nor  vmice,  nor  yet 
the  sensations  of  the  poor  flesh  which  has  grown  about 
thee  ; for  the  passive  part  will  look  to  this.  If  then, 
whatever  the  time  may  be  when  thou  shalt  be  near  to 
thy  departure,  neglecting  everjflhing  else  thou  shalt 
'respect  only  thy  ruling  faculty  and  the  divinity  within 
thee,  and  if  thou  shalt  be  afraid  not  because  thou  must 
some  time  cease  to  live,  but  if  thou  shalt  fear  never  to 
have  begun  to  live  according  to  nature,  then  thou  wilt 
be  a man  worthy  of  the  universe  which  has  produced 
thee,  and  thou  wilt  cease  to  be  a stranger  in  thy  native 
land,  and  to  wonder  at  things  which  happen  daily  as 
if  they  were  something  unexpected,  and  to  be  depend- 
ent on  this  or  that. 

2.  God  sees  the  minds  (ruling  principles)  of  aU  men 


288 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


bared  of  the  material  vesture  and  rind  and  impurities. 
For  with  his  intellectual  part  alone  he  touches  the 
intelligence  only  which  has  flowed  and  been  derived 
from  himself  into  these  bodies.  And  if  thou  also  usest 
thyself  to  do  this,  thou  wilt  rid  thyself  of  thy  much 
trouble.  For  he  who  regards  not  tlie  poor  flesh  which 
envelops  him,  surely  will  not  trouble  himself  by  look- 
ing after  raiment  and  dwelling  and  fame  and  such 
like  externals  and  show. 

3.  The  things  are  three  of  which  thou  art  composed, 
a little  body,  a little  breath  [life],  intelligence.  Of 
these  the  first  two  are  thine,  so  far  as  it  is  thy  duty  to 
take  care  of  them ; but  the  third  alone  is  properly 
thine.  Therefore,  if  thou  shalt  separate  from  thyself, 
that  is,  from  thy  understanding,  whatever  others  do  or 
say,  and  whatever  thou  hast  done  or  said  thyself,  and 
whatever  future  things  trouble  thee  because  they  may 
happen,  and  whatever  in  the  body  which  envelops 
thee,  or  in  the  breath  [life],  which  is  by  nature  associ- 
ated with  the  body,  is  attached  to  thee  independent  of 
thy  will,  and  whatever  the  external  circumfluent 
vortex  whirls  round,  so  that  the  intellectual  power 
exempt  from  the  things  of  fate  can  live  pure  and  free 
by  itself,  doing  what  is  just  and  accepting  what 
happens  and  saying  the  truth  : if  thou  wilt  separate,  I 
say,  from  this  ruling  faculty  the  things  which  are 
attached  to  it  by  the  impressions  of  sense,  and  the 
things  of  time  to  come  and  of  time  that  is  past,  and 
wilt  make  thyself  like  Empedocles’  sphere  : 

All  round,  and  in  its  joyous  rest  reposing;* 

and  if  thou  shalt  strive  to  live  only  what  is  really  thy 


* The  verse  of  Empedocles  is  corrupt  in  Antoninus. 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  AMTONINUS. 


289 


life,  that  is,  the  present,  then  thou  wilt  be  able  to  pass 
that  portion  of  life  which  remains  for  thee  up  to  the 
time  of  thy  death,  free  from  perturbations,  nobly,  and 
obedient  to  thy  own  demon  [to  the  god  that  is  within 
thee]  (ii.  13,  17 ; hi.  5,  6 ; xi.  12). 

4:.  I have  often  wondered  how  it  is  that  every  man 
loves  himself  more  than  all  the  rest  of  men,  but  yet 
sets  less  yalue  on  his  own  opinion  of  himself  than  on 
the  opinion  of  others.  If  then  a god  or  a wise  teacher 
should  present  himself  to  a man  and  bid  him  to  think 
of  nothing  and  to  design  nothing  which  he  would  not 
express  as  soon  as  he  conceived  it,  he  could  not  endure 
it  even  for  a single  day.  So  much  more  respect  have 
we  to  what  our  neighbors  shall  think  of  us  than  to 
what  we  shall  think  of  ourselves. 

5.  How  can  it  be  that  the  gods,  after  having  arranged 
all  things  well  and  benevolently  for  mankind,  have 
overlooked  this  alone,  that  some  men  and  very  good 
men,  and  men  who,  as  we  may  say,  have  had  most 
communion  with  the  divinity,  and  through  pious  acts 
and  religious  observances  have  been  most  intimate 
with  the  divinity,  when  they  have  once  died  should 
never  exist  again,  but  sJiould  be  completely  extin- 
guished ? 

But  if  this  is  so,  be  assured  that  if  it  ought  to  have 
been  otherwise,  the  gods  would  have  done  it.  Bor  if 
it  were  just,  it  would  also  be  possible;  and  if  it  were 
according  to  nature,  nature  would  have  had  it  so. 
But  because  it  is  not  so,  if  in  fact  it  is  not  so,  be  thou 
convinced  that  it  ought  not  to  have  been  so : for  thou 
seest  even  of  thyself  that  in  this  inquiry  thou  art  dis- 
puting with  the  deity  ; and  we  should  not  thus  dispute 
with  the  gods,  unless  they  were  most  excellent  and 


290 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


most  just;  but  if  this  is  so,  they  would  not  have 
allowed  anything  in  the  ordering  of  the  universe  to  be 
neglected  unjustly  and  irrationally. 

6.  rractice  thyself  even  in  the  things  which  thou 
despairest  of  accomplishing.  For  even  the  left  hand, 
which  is  ineffectual  for  all  other  things  for  want  of 
practice,  holds  the  bridle  more  vigorously  than  the 
right  hand ; for  it  has  been  practiced  in  this. 

7.  Consider  in  what  condition,  both  in  body  and  soul, 
a man  should  be  when  he  is  overtaken  by  death ; and 
consider  the  shortness  of  life,  the  boundless  abyss  of 
time,  past  and  future,  the  feebleness  of  all  matter. 

8.  Contemplate  the  formative  principles  [forms]  of 
things  bare  of  their  coverings ; the  purposes  of  actions ; 
consider  what  pain  is,  what  pleasure  is,  and  death,  and 
fame;  who  is  to  himself  the  cause  of  his  uneasiness; 
how  no  man  is  hindered  by  another  ; that  everything 
is  opinion. 

9.  In  the  application  of  thy  principles  thou  must  be 
like  the  pancratiast,  not  like  the  gladiator ; for  the 
gladiator  lets  fall  the  sword  which  he  uses  and  is 
killed  ; but  the  other  always  has  his  hand,  and  needs 
to  do  nothing  else  than  use  it. 

10.  See  what  things  are  in  themselves,  dividing  them 
into  matter,  form  and  purpose. 

11.  What  a power  man  has  to  do  nothing  except 
what  God  will  approve,  and  to  accept  all  that  God 
may  give  him. 

12.  With  respect  to  that  which  happens  conformably 
to  nature,  we  ought  to  blame  neither  gods,  for  they  do 
nothing  wrong  either  voluntarily  or  involuntarily,  nor 
men,  for  they  do  nothing  wrong  except  involuntarily. 
Consequently  we  should  blame  nobody  (ii.  11,  12,  13  ; 
vii.  62 ; viii.  17). 


MARCUS  A URBLIUS  ANTONINUS. 


291 


13.  How  ridiculous  and  what  a stranger  he  is  who 
is  surprised  at  anything  which  happens  in  life. 

14:.  Either  there  is  a fatal  necessity  and  invincible 
order,  or  a kind  providence,  or  a confusion  without  a 
purpose  and  Avithout  a director  (iv.  27).  If  then  there 
is  an  invincible  necessity,  why  dost  thou  resist  % But 
if  there  is  a providence  which  allows  itself  to  be  pro- 
pitiated, make  thyself  worthy  of  the  help  of  the 
divinity.  But  if  there  is  a confusion  without  a 
governor,  be  content  that  in  such  a tempest  thou  hast 
in  thyself  a certain  ruling  intelligence.  And  even  if 
the  tempest  carry  thee  away,  let  it  carry  away  the 
poor  flesh,  the  poor  breath,  everything  else ; for  the 
intelligence  at  least  it  will  not  carry  away. 

15.  Does  the  light  of  the  lamp  shine  Avithout  losing 
its  splendor  until  it  is  extinguished  ; and  shall  the 
truth  which  is  in  thee  and  justice  and  temperance  be 
extinguished  [before  thy  death]  ? 

16.  When  a man  has  presented  the  appearance  of 
having  done  wrong,  [say],  How  then  do  I knoAV  if  this 
is  a wrongful  act  ? And  even  if  he  has  done  Avrong, 
how  do  I knoAV  that  he  has  not  condemned  himself  ? 
and  so  this  is  like  tearing  his  own  face.  Consider  that 
he,  Avho  Avould  not  have  the  bad  man  do  Avrong,  is  like 
the  man  Avho  Avould  not  have  the  fig-tree  to  bear  juice 
in  the  figs,  and  infants  to  cry,  and  the  horse  to  neigh, 
and  whatever  else  must  of  necessity  be.  For  what 
must  a man  do  Avho  has  such  a character  ? If  then 
thou  art  irritable,f  cure  this  man’s  disposition.* 


* The  interpreters  translate  yopyoZ  by  the  words  “acer,  valid- 
usque,”  and  “skillful.”  But  in  Epictetus  (ii.  16,  20  ; iii.  12,  10)  this 
word  means  “vehement,”  “prone  to  anger,”  “irritable,” 


292 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


17.  If  it  is  not  right,  do  not  do  it : if  it  is  not  true, 

do  not  say  it.  [For  let  thy  efforts  be ]* 

18.  In  everything  always  observe  what  the  thing  is 
which  produces  for  thee  an  appearance,  and  resolve  it 
by  dividing  it  into  the  formal,  the  material,  the  pur- 
pose, and  the  time  within  which  it  must  end. 

19.  Perceive  at  last  that  thou  hast  in  thee  something 
better  and  more  divine  than  the  things  which  cause 
the  various  effects,  and,  as  it  were,  pull  thee  by  the 
strings.  What  is  there  nowin  my  mind?  is  it  fear, 
or  suspicion,  or  desire,  or  anything  of  the  kind?  (v.  ii.) 

20.  First,  do  nothing  inconsiderately,  nor  without  a 
purpose.  Second,  make  thy  acts  refer  to  nothing  else 
than  to  a social  end. 

21.  Consider  that  before  long  thou  wilt  be  nobody 
and  nowhere,  nor  will  any  of  the  things  exist  which 
thou  now  seest,  nor  any  of  those  who  are  now  living. 
For  all  things  are  formed  by  nature  to  change  and  be 
turned  and  to  perish  in  order  that  other  things  in  con- 
tinuous succession  may  exist  (ix  28). 

22.  Consider  that  everything  is  opinion,  and  opinion 
is  in  thy  power.  Take  away  then,  when  thou  choos- 
est,  th}^  opinion,  and  like  a mariner,  who  has  doubled 
the  promontory,  thou  wilt  find  calm,  everything  stable, 
and  a waveless  bay. 

23.  Any  one  activity,  whatever  it  may  be,  when  it 
has  ceased  at  its  proper  time,  suffers  no  evil  because  it 
has  ceased ; nor  he  wlio  has  done  this  act,  does  he 
suffer  any  evil  for  this  reason  that  the  act  has  ceased. 
In  like  manner  then  the  whole  which  consists  of  all 
the  acts,  which  is  our  life,  if  it  cease  at  its  proper  time, 
suffers  no  evil  for  this  reason  that  it  has  ceased ; nor 


* There  is  something  wrong  here,  or  incomplete. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


293 


he  who  has  terminated  this  series  at  the  proper  time, 
has  he  been  ill  dealt  with.  But  the  proper  time  and 
the  limit  nature  fixes,  sometimes  as  in  old  age  the 
peculiar  nature  of  man,  but  always  the  universal 
nature,  by  the  change  of  whose  parts  the  whole  uni- 
verse continues  ever  young  and  perfect.  And  every 
thing  which  is  useful  to  the  universal  is  alwa^'s  good 
and  in  season.  Therefore  the  termination  of  life  for 
every  man  is  no  evil,  because  neither  is  it  shameful, 
since  it  is  both  independent  of  the  will  and  not  opposed 
to  the  general  interest,  but  it  is  good,  since  it  is  sea- 
sonable and  profitable  to  and  congruent  with  the  uni- 
versal. For  thus  too  he  is  moved  by  the  deity  who  is 
moved  in  the  same  manner  with  the  deity  and  moved 
toward  the  same  things  in  his  mind. 

2d.  These  three  principles  thou  must  have  in  readi- 
ness. In  the  things  which  thou  doest  do  nothing  either 
inconsiderately  or  otherwise  than  as  justice  herself 
would  act ; but  with  respect  to  what  may  happen  to 
thee  from  without,  consider  that  it  happens  either  by 
chance  or  according  to  providence,  and  thou  must 
neither  blame  chance  nor  accuse  providence.  Second, 
consider  what  every  being  is  from  the  seed  to  the  time 
of  its  receiving  a soul,  and  from  the  reception  of  a 
soul  to  the  giving  back  of  the  same,  and  of  what  things 
every  being  is  compounded  and  into  what  things  it  is 
resolved.  Third,  if  thou  shouldst  suddenly  be  raised 
up  above  the  earth,  and  shouldst  look  down  on  human 
things,  and  observe  the  variety  of  them  how  great  it 
is,  and  at  the  same  time  also  shouldst  see  at  a glance 
how  great  is  the  number  of  beings  who  dwell  all 
around  in  the  air  and  the  ether,  consider  that  as  often 
as  thou  shouldst  be  raised  up,  thou  wouldst  see  the 


294 


TBE  MEDITATIONS  OE 


same  things,  sameness  of  form  and  shortness  of  dura- 
tion. Are  these  things  to  be  proud  of  ? 

25.  Cast  away  opinion  : thou  art  saved.  Who  then 
hinders  thee  from  casting  it  away  ? 

26.  When  thou  art  troubled  about  anything,  thou 
hast  forgotten  this,  that  all  things  happen  according  to 
the  universal  nature  ; and  forgotten  this,  that  a man’s 
wrongful  act  is  nothing  to  thee  ; and  further  thou  hast 
forgotten  this,  that  everything  which  happens,  always 
happened  so  and  will  happen  so,  and  now  happens 
so  everywhere ; forgotten  this,  too,  how  close  is  the 
kinship  between  a man  and  the  whole  human  race,  for 
it  is  a community,  not  of  a little  blood  or  seed,  but  of 
intelligence.  And  thou  hast  forgotten  this  too,  that 
every  man’s  intelligence  is  a god,  and  is  an  efflux  of  the 
deity;*  and  forgotten  this,  that  nothing  is.  a man’s 
OAvn,  but  that  his  child  and  his  body  and  his  very  soul 
came  from  the  deity  ; forgotten  this,  that  everything 
is  opinion  ; and  lastly  thou  hast  forgotten  that  every 
man  lives  the  present  time  only,  and  loses  only  this. 

27.  Constantly  bring  to  thy  recollection  those  who 
have  complained  greatly  about  anything,  those  who 
have  been  most  conspicuous  by  the  greatest  fame  or 
misfortunes  or  enmities  or  fortunes  of  anj^  kind : then 
think  where  are  they  all  now  ? Smoke  and  ash  and  a 
tale,  or  not  even  a tale.  And  let  there  be  present  to 
thy  mind  also  everything  of  this  sort,  how  Fabius 
Catullinus  lived  in  the  country,  and  Lucius  Lupus  in  his 
gardens,  and  Stertinius  at  Baiae,  and  Tiberius  at  Capreae, 
and  Velius  Rufus  [or  Rufus  at  Yelia]  ; and  in  fine  think 
of  the  eager  pursuit  of  anything  cojoined  with  pride 


* See  Epictetus,  ii.  8,  9,  etc. 
t Epict.  i.  8,  6. 


MARCUS  A URELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


295 


and  how  worthless  everything  is  after  which  men 
violently  strain  ; and  how  much  more  philosophical  it 
is  for  a man  in  the  opportunities  presented  to  him  to 
show  himself  just,  temperate,  obedient  to  the  gods,  and 
to  do  this  with  all  simplicity  : for  the  pride  which  is 
proud  of  its  want  of  pride  is  the  most  iniolerable  of  all. 

28.  To  those  who  ask.  Where  hast  thou  seen  the  gods, 
or  how  dost  thou  comprehend  that  they  exist  and  so 
worshipest  them,  I answer,  in  the  first  place,  they  may 
be  seen  even  with  the  eyes  ;*  in  the  second  place  neither 
have  I seen  even  my  own  soul  and  yet  I honor  it. 
Thus  then  with  respect  to  the  gods,  from  what  I con- 
stantly experience  of  their  power,  from  this  I compre- 
hend that  they  exist  and  I venerate  them. 

29.  The  safety  of  life  is  this,  to  examine  everything 


■*  “Seen  even  with  the  eyes.”  It  is  supposed  that  this  may  be 
explained  hy  the  Stoic  doctrine,  that  the  universe  is  a god  or  living 
being  (iv.  40),  and  that  the  celestial  bodies  are  gods  (viii.  19).  But 
the  emperor  may  mean  that  we  know  that  the  gods  exist,  as  he  after- 
wards states  it,  because  we  see  what  they  do  ; as  we  know  that  man 
has  intellectual  powers,  because  we  see  what  he  does,  and  in  no  other 
way  do  we  know  it.  This  passage  then  will  agree  with  the  passage 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (i.  v.  20),  and  with  the  Epistle  to  the 
Colossians  (i.  15),  in  which  Jesus  Christ  is  named  “the  image  of 

the  invisible  god  and  with  the  passage  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John 
(xiv.  v.  9). 

Gataker,  whose  notes  are  a wonderful  collection  of  learrlng,  and 
all  of  it  sound  and  good,  quotes  a passage  of  Calvin  which  is  founded 
on  St.  Paul’s  language  (Rom.  1.  ®.  20) ; “ God  by  creating  the  uni- 
verse [or  world,  mundum],  being  himself  invisible,  has  presented 
himself  to  our  eyes  conspicuously  in  a certain  visible  form.”  He  also 
quotes  Seneca  (De  Benef.  iv.  c.  8) : “ Quocunque  te  flexeris,  ibi  ilium 
videbie  occurrentem  tibi  : nihil  ab  illo  vacat,  opussuum  ipse  implet.” 
Compare  also  Cicero,  De  Senectute  (c.  22),  Xenophon’s  Cyropsedia 
(viii.  7)  and  Mem.  iv.  3 ; also  Epictetus,  i.  6,  de  Providentia.  I think 
that  my  iaterpretation  of  Antoninus  is  right! 


296 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF 


all  through,  what  it  is  itself,  what  is  its  material,  what 
the  formal  part ; with  all  thy  soul  to  do  justice  and  to 
say  the  truth.  What  remains  except  to  enjoy  life  by 
joining  one  good  thing  to  another  so  as  not  to  leave 
even  the  smallest  intervals  between. 

30.  There  is  one  light  of  the  sun,  though  it  is  inter- 
rupted by  walls,  mountains,  and  other  things  infinite. 
There  is  one  common  substance,*  though  it  is  distributed 
among  countless  bodies  which  have  their  several 
qualities.  There  is  one  soul,  though  it  is  distributed 
among  infinite  natures  and  individual  circumscriptions 
[or  individuals].  There  is  one  intelligent  soul,  though 
it  seems  to  be  divided.  Now  in  the  things  which  have 
been  mentioned  all  the  other  parts,  such  as  those  which 
are  air  and  matter,  are  without  sensation  and  have  no 
fellowship : and  yet  even  these  parts  the  intelligent 
principle  holds  together,  and  the  gravitation  toward 
the  same.  But  intellect  in  a peculiar  manner  tends 
to  that  which  is  of  the  same  kin,  and  combines 
with  it,  and  the  feeling  for  communion  is  not 
interrupted. 

31.  What  dost  thou  wish?  To  continue  to  exist? 
W ell,  dost  thou  wish  to  have  sensation  ? movement  ? 
growth?  and  then  again  to  cease  to  grow?  to  use  thy 
speech?  to  think?  What  is  there  of  all  these  things 
which  seem  to  thee  worth  desiring  ? But  if  it  is  easy 
to  set  little  value  on  all  these  things,  turn  to  that 
which  remains,  which  is  to  follow  reason  and  god. 
But  it  is  inconsistent  with  honoring  reason  and  god  to 
be  troubled  because  by  death  a man  will  be  deprived 
of  the  other  things. 

32.  How  small  a part  of  the  boundless  and  unfath- 


* iv.  40. 


MABCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS. 


297 


omable  time  is  assigned  to  every  man  ? For  it  is  very 
soon  swallowed  up  in  the  eternal.  And  how  small  a 
part  of  the  whole  substance  ? And  how  small  a part 
of  the  universal  soul  ? And  on  what  a small  clod  of 
the  whole  earth  thou  creepest  ? Reflecting  on  all  this 
consider  nothing  to  be  great,  except  to  act  as  thy 
nature  leads  thee,  and  to  endure  that  which  the 
common  nature  brings. 

33.  How  does  the  ruling  faculty  make  use  of  itself? 
For  all  lies  in  this.  But  everything  else,  whether  it  is 
in  the  power  of  thy  will  or  not,  is  only  lifeless  ashes 
and  smoke. 

34.  This  reflection  is  most  adapted  to  move  us  to 
contempt  of  death,  that  even  those  who  think  pleasure 
to  be  a good,  and  pain  an  evil,  still  have  despised  it. 

35.  The  man  to  whom  that  only  is  good  which  comes 
in  due  season,  and  to  whom  it  is  the  same  thing 
whether  he  has  done  more  or  fewer  acts  conformable 
to  right  reason,  and  to  whom  it  makes  no  difference 
whether  he  contemplates  the  world  for  a longer  or  a 
shorter  time — for  this  man  neither  is  death  a terrible 
thing  (hi.  7 ; vi.  23 ; x.  20  ; xii.  23). 

36.  JMan,  thou  hast  been  a citizen  in  this  great  state 
[the  world] : * what  difference  does  it  make  to  thee 
whether  for  five  years  [or  three]?  For  that  which  is 
conformable  to  the  laws  is  just  for  all.  Where  is  the 
hardship  then,  if  no  tyrant  nor  yet  an  unjust  judge 
sends  thee  away  from  the  state,  but  nature  who 
brought  thee  into  it?  The  same  as  if  a praetor  who 
has  employed  an  actor  dismisses  him  from  the  stage.* 
“ But  I have  not  finished  the  five  acts,  but  only  three 


*ii.  16;  iii.  11:  jv.  29. 
8 J Si;  1. 


298 


THE  MEDITATIONS  OF  ANTONINUS. 


of  them.”  Thou  sayest  well,  but  in  life  the  three  acts 
are  the  whole  drama;  for  what  shall  be  a complete 
drama  is  determined  by  him  who  was  once  the  cause 
of  its  composition,  and  now  of  its  dissolution  : but  thou 
art  the  cause  of  neither.  Depart  then  satisfied,  for  he 
also  who  releases  thee  is  satisfied. 


INDEX 


**♦  Tte  paragraphs  (par.)  and  lines  (1.)  are  those  of  the  sections. 


Active,  man  is  by  nature,  ix.  16. 

Advice  from  the  good  to  be  taken,  vi.  21;  viii.  16. 

Affectation,  vii.  60;  viii.  30;  xi.  18  (par.  9),  19. 

Anger  discouraged,  vi.  26,  27 ; xi.  18. 

Anger,  offenses  of,  ii.  10. 

Anger,  uselessness  of,  v.  28;  viii.  4. 

Appearances  not  to  be  regarded,  v.  36;  vi.  3,  13. 

Astonishment  should  not  be  felt  at  anything  that  happens,  viii.  15; 
xii.  1,  13. 

Attainment,  what  is  within  everyone’s,  vii.  67;  viii,  8. 

Attention  to  what  is  said  or  done,  vi.  53;  vii.  4,  30;  viii.  22. 

Bad,  the,  ii.  1. 

Beautiful,  the,  li.  1. 

Causal.  See  Formal. 

Change  keeps  the  world  ever  new,  vii.  25;  viii.  50(1. 13);  xii.  23  (1.  13). 
Change,  law  of,  iv.  3,  36;  v.  13,  23;  vi.  4,  15,  36;  vii.  18;  viii.  6;  ix. 

19,  28  (par.  2),  35;  x.  7;  xii.  21. 

Change,  no  evil  in,  iv.  42. 

Christians,  the,  xi.  3. 

Circle,  things  come  round  in  a,  ii.  14. 

Comedy,  new,  xi.  6. 

Comedy,  old,  xi.  6. 

Complaining,  uselessness  of,  viii.  17,  50. 

Connection.  See  Universe. 

Conquerors  are  robbers,  x.  10. 

Contentment.  See  Resignation. 

Co-operation.  See  Mankind  and  Universe. 


300 


INDEX. 


Demon,  the,  ii.  13,  17;  iii.  6 (1.  8),  7,  16  (1.  14);  v.  10,  27;  xii.  3. 
Death,  ii.  11,  12,  17;  iii.  3,  7;  iv.  5;  v.  33;  vi.  2,  24,  28;  vii.  32;  viii. 

20,  58;  is.  3,  21;  x.  36;  xii.  23,  34,  35. 

Death  inevitable,  iii.  3;  iv.  3 (1.  19),  6,  32,  48,  50;  v.  33;  vi.  47;  viii. 
25,  31. 

Desire,  offenses  of,  ii.  10. 

Destiny,  iii.  11  (1.  23);  iv.  26;  v.  8 (1.  10,  etc.),  24;  vii.  57;  x.  5. 
Discontent.  See  Resignation. 

Doubts  discussed,  vi.  10;  vii.  75;  ix.  28,  39;  xii.  5,  14. 

Duty,  all  importance  of,  vi.  2,  22;  x.  22. 

Earth,  insignificance  of  the,  iii.  10;  iv.  3 (par.  2);  vi.  36;  viii.  21;  xii.  32. 
Earthly  things,  transitory  nature  of,  ii.  12,  17;  iv.  32,  33,  35,  48;  v. 

23;  vi.  15,  36;  vii.  21,  34;  viii.  21,  25;  x.  18,  31;  xii.  27. 

Earthly  things,  worthlessness  of,  ii.  12;  v.  10;  33;  vi.  15;  vii.  3;  ix. 

24,  36;  xi.  2;  xii.  27. 

Equanimity,  x.  8. 

Example,  we  should  not  follow  bad,  vi.  6;  vii.  65. 

Existence,  meanness  of,  viii.  24. 

Existence,  the  object  of,  v.  1;  viii.  19. 

External  things  cannot  really  harm  a man,  or  affect  the  soul,  ii.  11 
(1,  12);  iv.  3,  8,  39,  49  (par.  2);  v.  35;  vii.  64;  viii.  1,  32,  51  (par.  2); 
ix.  31;  X.  33. 

Failure,  x.  12. 

Fame,  worthlessness  of,  iii.  10;  iv.  3 (1.  38),  19,  33  (1.  10);  v.  33;  vi. 

16,  18;  viii.  34;  viii.  1,  44;  ix.  30. 

Fear,  what  we  ought  to,  xii.  1 (1.  19). 

Fellowship.  See  Mankind. 

Few  things  necessary  for  a virtuous  and  happy  life,  ii.  5;  iii.  10;  vii. 

67;  X.  8 (1.  24). 

Flattery,  xi.  18  (par.  10). 

Formal,  the,  and  the  material,  iv.  21  (par.  2);  v.  13;  vii.  10,  29;  viii. 
11;  ix.  25;  xii.  8,  10,  18. 

Future,  we  should  not  be  anxious  about  the,  vii.  8;  viii.  36;  xii.  1. 

Gods,  perfect  j ustice  of  the,  xii.  5 (par.  2). 

Gods,  the,  vi.  44;  xii.  28. 

Gods,  the,  cannot  be  evil,  ii.  11;  vi.  44. 

Good,  the,  ii.  1. 


INDEX. 


301 


Habit  of  thought,  v.  16. 

Happiness,  what  is  true,  v.  9,  34;  viii.  1;  x.  33. 

Help  to  be  accepted  from  others,  vii.  7. 

Heroism,  true,  xi.  18  (par.  10). 

Ignorance.  See  Wrong-doing. 

Independence.  See  Self-reliance. 

Indifferent  things,  ii.  11;  iv.  39;  vi.  33;  ix.  1 (1.  29). 

Individual,  the.  See  Interests. 

Infinity.  See  Time. 

Ingratitude.  See  Mankind. 

Injustice,  ix.  1. 

Intelligent  soul,  rational  beings  participate  in  the  same,  iv.  40;  ix.  8, 
9;  X.  1 (1.  15);  xii.  26,  30. 

Interests  of  the  whole  and  the  individual  identical,  iv.  23;  v.  8 (1.  30); 
vi.  45,  54;  x.  6,  20,  33;  xii.  23  (1.  13). 

Justice,  V.  34;  x.  11;  xi.  10. 

Justice  and  reason  identical,  xi.  1. 

Justice  prevails  everywhere,  iv.  10. 

Leisure,  we  ought  to  have  some,  viii.  51. 

Life,  a good,  everywhere  possible,  v.  16. 

Life  can  only  be  lived  once,  ii.  14;  x.  31  (1.  10). 

Life,  shortness  of,  ii.  4,  17;  iii.  10,  14;  iv.  17,  48,  60;  vi.  15,  36,  56;  x. 
31,  34. 

Life  to  be  made  a proper  use  of,  without  delay,  ii.  4;  iii.  1,  14;  iv.  17, 
37;  vii.  56;  viii.  32;  x.  31  (1.  15);  xii.  1 (1.  15). 

Life,  whether  long  or  short,  matters  not,  vi.  49;  ix.  33;  xii.  36. 

Magnanimity,  x.  8. 

Mankind,  co-operation  and  fellowship  of , one  with  another,  ii.  1 (1.  12), 
16;  iii.  4,  11;  iv.  4,  33;  v.  16  (1.  13),  20;  vi.  7,  14,  23,  39;  vii.  5,  13, 
33,  55;  viii.  13,  26,  34,  43,  59;  ix.  1,  9,  23,  31,  42;  x.  36  (1.  13);  xi. 
8,  31;  xii.  20. 

Mankind,  folly  and  baseness  of,  v.  10  (1.  10);  ix.  2,  3 (1.  15),  29;  x.  15, 
19. 

Mankind,  ingratitude  of,  x.  36. 

Material,  the.  See  Formal. 

Nature,  after  products  of,  iii.  2;  vi.  36. 


302 


INDEX. 


Nature,  bounds  fixed  by,  v.  1. 

Nature,  man  formed  by,  to  bear  all  that  happens  to  him,  v.  18; 
viii.  46. 

Nature,  nothing  evil,  which  is  according  to,  ii.  17;  vi.  33. 

Nature  of  the  universe.  See  Universe,  nothing  that  happens  is  con- 
trary to  the  nature  of  the. 

Nature,  perfect  beauty  of,  iii.  2;  vi.  36. 

Nature,  we  should  live  according  to,  iv.  48,  51;  v.  3,  25;  vi.  16  (1.  14); 
vii.  15,  55;  viii.  1,  54;  x.  33. 

New,  nothing  under  the  sun,  ii.  14  (1.  12);  iv.  44;  vi.  37,  46;  vii.  1, 
49;  viii.  6;  ix.  14;  x.  27;  xi.  1. 

Object,  we  should  always  act  with  a view  to  some,  ii.  7,  16  (1.  16);  iii. 

4;  iv.  2;  viii.  17;  x.  37;  xi.  21;  xii,  20. 

Obsolete,  all  things  become,  iv.  33. 

Omission,  sins  of,  ix.  5. 

Opinion,  iv.  3,  7,  12,  39;  vi.  52,  57;  vii.  2,  14,  16,  26,  68;  viii.  14,  29, 
40,  47,  49,  ix.  13,  29  (1.  10),  32,  42  (1.  22);  x.  3;  xi.  16,  18;  xii. 
22,  25. 

Others’  conduct  not  to  be  inquired  into,  iii.  4;  iv.  18;  v.  25. 

Others,  opinion  of,  to  be  disregarded,  viii.  1 (1.  10);  x.  8 (1.  13),  11;  xi. 
13;  xii.  4. 

Others,  we  should  be  lenient  toward,  ii.  13;  iii.  11;  iv.  3(1.  19);  v. 
33  (1.  19);  vi.  20,  27;  vii.  26,  62,  63,  70;  ix.  11,  27;  x.  4;  xi.  9,  13,  18; 
xii.  16. 

Others,  we  should  examine  the  ruling  principles  of,  iv.  38;  ix.  18,  22, 
27,  34. 

Ourselves  often  to  blame,  for  expecting  men  to  act  contrary  to  their 
nature,  ix.  42  (1.  26). 

Ourselves,  reformation  should  begin  with,  xi.  29. 

Ourselves,  we  should  judge,  x.  30;  xi.  18  (par.  4). 

Pain,  vii.  33,  64;  viii.  28. 

Perfection  not  to  be  expected  in  this  world,  ix.  29  (1.  8). 

Perseverance,  v.  9;  x.  12. 

Persuasion,  to  be  used,  vi.  50. 

Perturbation,  vi.  16;  vii.  58;  ix.  31. 

Pessimism,  ix.  35. 

Philosophy,  v.  9;  vi.  12;  ix.  41  (1.  13). 

Pleasure,  he  who  pursues,  is  guilty  of  impiety,  ix.  1 (1.  21). 


INDEX. 


303 


Pleasures  are  enjoyed  by  the  bad,  vi.  34;  ix.  1 (1.  25). 

Power,  things  in  our  own,  v.  5,  10;  vi.  32,  41,  52,  58;  vii.  2,  14,  54, 
68;  X.  32,  33. 

Power,  things  not  in  our  own,  v.  33;  vi.  41. 

Practice  is  good,  even  in  things  which  we  despair  of  accomplishing, 
xii.  6. 

Praise,  worthlessness  of,  iii.  4;  iv.  20;  vi.  16,  59;  vii.  62;  viii.  52,  53; 
ix.  34. 

Prayer,  the  right  sort  of,  v.  7;  ix.  40. 

Present  time  the  only  thing  a man  really  possesses,  ii.  14;  iii.  10;  viii. 
44;  xii.  3. 

Procrastination.  See  Life  to  be  made  a proper  use  of,  etc. 

Puppet  pulled  by  strings  of  desire,  ii.  2;  iii.  16;  vi.  16,  28;  vii. '3,  29; 
xii.  19. 

Rational  soul.  See  Ruling  part. 

Rational  soul,  spherical  form  of  the,  viii.  41;  xi.  12;  xii.  3 (and  see 
Ruling  part). 

Reason,  all-prevailing,  v.  32;  vi.  1,  40. 

Reason  and  nature  identical,  vii.  11. 

Reason,  the,  can  adapt  everything  that  happens  to  its  own  use,  v.  20; 
vi.  8;  vii.  68  (1.  14);  viii.  35;  x.  31. 

Reason,  we  should  live  according  to.  See  Nature. 

Repentance  does  not  follow  renouncement  of  pleasure,  viii.  10. 

Resignation  and  contentment,  iii.  4 (1.  23,  etc.),  16  (1.  11,  etc.);  iv.  23, 
31,  33,  34;  v.  8,  33  (1.  14);  vi.  16,  44,  49;  vii.  27,  57;  ix.  37;  x.  1,  11, 
14,  25,  28,  35. 

Revenge,  best  kind  of,  vi.  6. 

Rising  from  bed,  v.  1;  viii.  12. 

Ruling  part,  the,  ii.  2;  iv.  1;  v.  11,  19,  21,  26;  vi.  14,  35;  vii.  16,  55 
(par.  2);  viii.  45,  48,  56,  57,  60,  61;  ix.  15,  26;  x.  24,  33  (1.  17),  38; 
xi.  1,  19,  20;  xii.  3,  14. 

Self  reliance  and  steadfastness  of  soul,  iii.  5,  12;  iv.  11,  29  (1.  3),  49 
(par.  1);  v.  3,  34  (1.  3);  vi.  44  (1.  17);  vii.  12,  15;  ix.  28  (1.  8),  29;  xii, 
14. 

Self-restraint,  v.  33. 

Self,  we  should  retire  into,  iv.  3 (1.  6 and  par.  2);  vii.  28,  33,  59;  viii. 
48. 

Senses,  movements  of  the,  to  be  disregarded,  v.  31  (1.  10);  vii.  55  (par, 
2);  viii.  26,  39;  x.  8 (1.  17);  xi.  19;  xii.  1 (1.  12). 


304 


INDEX. 


Sickness,  behavior  in,  ix.  41. 

Social.  See  Mankind. 

Steadfastness  of  soul.  See  Self-reliance. 

Substance,  the  universal,  iv.  40;  v.  24;  vii.  19,  23;  xii.  7,  30. 
Suicide,  v.  29;  viii.  47;  x.  8 (1.  27). 


Time  compared  to  a river,  iv.  43. 

Time,  infinity  of,  iv.  3 (1.  38),  50;  v.  24;  ix.  32;  xii.  7,  32. 

Tragedy,  xi.  6. 

Tranquillity  of  soul,  iv.  3;  vi.  11;  vii.  68;  viii.  28. 

Ugly,  the,  ii.  1. 

Unintelligible  things,  v.  10. 

Universe,  harmony  of  the,  iv.  27,  45;  v.  8 (1.  15). 

Universe,  intimate  connection  and  co  operation  of  all  things  in  the, 
one  with  another,  ii.  3,  9;  iv.  29;  v.  8,  30;  vi.  38,  42,  43;  vii.  9,  19, 
68;  viii.  7;  ix.  1;  x.  1. 

Universe,  nothing  that  dies  falls  out  of  the,  viii,  18,  50  (1.  11);  x.  7 (1. 

21). 

Universe,  nothing  that  happens  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  the,  v. 

8,  10;  vi.  9,  58;  viii.  5;  xii.  26. 

Unnecessary  things,  v.  15. 

Unnecessary  thoughts,  words  and  actions,  iii.  4;  iv.  24. 

Vain  professions,  x.  16;  xi.  15. 

Virtue,  vi.  17. 

Virtue  its  own  reward,  v.  6;  vii.  73;  ix.  42  (1.  40);  xi.  4, 

Virtue,  omnipotence  of,  iv.  16. 

Virtue,  pleasure  in  contemplating,  vi.  48. 


"Whole,  integrity  of  the,  to  be  preserved,  v.  8. 

Whole,  the.  See  Interests. 

Wickedness  has  always  existed,  vii.  1. 

Wickedness  must  exist  in  the  world,  viii.  15,  50;  ix.  42;  xi.  18  (par. 
11);  xii.  16. 

Worst  evil,  the,  ix.  2 (1.  8). 

Worth  and  importance,  things  of  real,  iv.  33;  v.  10  (1.  17);  vi.  16,  30 
(1.  3),  47;  vii.  20,  44,  46,  58,  66;  viii.  2,  3,  5;  ix.  6,  12;  x.  8 (1.  24), 
11;  xii.  1,  27,  31,  33. 


INDEX.  305 

Wrong-doing  cannot  really  harm  any  one,  vii.  22;  viii.  55;  is.  42(1.  20); 
X.  13  (par.  1);  si.  18  (par.  7). 

Wrong-doing  injures  the  wrong-doer,  iv.  26;  is.  4,  38;  si.  18  (par.  3). 
Wrong-doing  owing  to  ignorance,  ii.  1,  13;  vi.  27;  vii.  22,  26,  62,  63; 
si.  18;  xii.  12. 

Wrong-doing  to  be  left  where  it  is,  vii.  29;  is.  20. 


■ ^ 


TFIANS.FROMPL 

1993 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY 
LIBRARY 


DURHAM,  NORTH  CAROLINA 
27706 


